Ratification of Paris climate change agreement good first step, some say

Others are questioning the wisdom of trying to halt global warming
By Deborah Gyapong
OTTAWA (CCN)

Groups concerned about man-made climate change are applauding Canada’s ratification of the Paris climate accord Oct. 5.

“We’re quite happy with the ratification of the Paris Agreement and the fact the Paris Agreement is entering into force at the same time,” said Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace advocacy and research officer Genevieve Talbot.

“This is all very good news and we’re going to continue to push for more so we can see real meaningful action to address climate change and support the well-being of Canadians across the country,” said Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ) senior policy analyst Karri-Munn Venn.

“It was pretty fast for an international agreement to have enough ratifications,” Talbot said, noting the other condition was for the countries to represent 55 per cent of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHGs). “That condition is met now.”

However, both groups see much room for improvement.

“It is a first step and it has to be seen as a first step,” Talbot said. “Our own [Canadian] targets are pretty weak and pretty low.” The targets are the same as those of the previous Harper government, but she pointed out the Trudeau government has said these targets are “not a ceiling but a floor.”

“We want to make sure they ratchet up the targets,” she said.

Her other concern is what seems to be a lack of consistency in the government’s approach to energy use. “Their position on pipelines is not that clear and as well, the fact they approved the LNG (liquid natural gas) port in British Columbia is quite controversial,” she said.

“There’s a need to look at all these sectors of the Canadian economy in order to achieve the Paris agreement even with the goal we have now that is very low,” she said. Yes, we have to look at the energy sector and the agricultural sector.”

CCODP’s fall campaign on the theme “At the Heart of the Action” focuses on mitigating the effects of climate change through support of people in the Global South most adversely affected.

“Agriculture must be at the heart of climate change solutions,” the campaign stresses, urging international investments to recognize the role of small family farming “in struggle against climate change and hunger;” the development of local farmers’ markets; and consultations with small farmers regarding any decisions affecting them.

Talbot noted Canada committed $2.65 billion by 2020 to support those affected, but “we still have no clue” on how or where that money will be spent, whether through foreign aid, promoting green technology or other methods.

Munn-Venn said CPJ has recommended a “suite of policies” to the Environment Minister relating to reductions in GHGs, investments in renewable energy and support for those most impacted by climate change. Included are those in the oil and gas sector who may need retraining or assistance to find work elsewhere. “The potential for jobs” in renewable energy such as geothermal, wind, and solar “is really quite tremendous,” she said.

Mitigating climate change is “sometimes pitched as an issue contrary to a strong economy,” said Munn-Venn. Their opposition to putting money into the oil and gas sector is sometimes seen as if “we’re somehow opposed to those people employed in those industries. That’s not true.”

Instead, she said the Canadian economy needs to look at the great potential in geothermal, wind, solar and other clean energy

CCODP looks forward to the next round of climate talks — COP 22 — in Marrakesh in November, she said, where world leaders and NGOs will discuss implementation of the agreement.

Talbot also said she appreciated Prime Minister Trudeau’s pledge to bring in a national carbon-pricing scheme if all the provinces do not develop their own system. Most provinces are developing either cap-and-trade or carbon-taxing systems, though Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia have not.

“I think there is enough room and flexibility for the provinces to adjust to it,” she said.

Munn-Venn also welcomed Trudeau’s announcement. “A carbon price is really important, but it’s not going to take effect for another year and a half. And when it does, it will be really low, at $10 a ton,” she said.

Trudeau said the price will rise gradually to $50 a ton by 2020 and it’s only at that level when it will be high enough to generate “interest in alternative energy.”

Though Conservatives voted against the Liberal motion on the matter, Munn-Venn said she was gratified to hear Tory MPs saying they support the Paris agreement in principle.

A think tank that takes a more conservative, market-based approach to mitigating climate change, Canadians for Clean Prosperity, also indicated its support for Trudeau’s plan to put a price on carbon.

The think tank recommends carbon pricing be administered by each province “with a federal price acting as a backstop where provinces did not implement a sufficiently robust system,” says a blog post by Clean Prosperity’s executive director Mark Cameron, a former senior policy advisor to Stephen Harper. He also recommends any taxes collected through the backstop be returned to the taxpayers in the provinces from which they originate.

But CPJ does not want a revenue-neutral approach to carbon pricing, but would like to see the money applied to helping the poor who might be most adversely affected by carbon pricing and other measures.