Sierra Club of Canada

Kyoto Report Card 2007
Executive Summary

Last year, 2006, was a lost year for the federal government in contributing to the fight to stop global warming and meeting Canada’s international obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. Federal programs were slashed and the importance of the issue downplayed. The lost year followed a decade of procrastination, half-measures and delays by the previous government. The appointment of John Baird as federal environment minister in early 2007 signaled a positive change in the government’s approach to the climate crisis. Several programs (clean energy, energy efficiency, funding for provincial climate initiatives) that had been eliminated were rebranded and relaunched. However, even with these initiatives, Canada remains an international laggard in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Canada is barely out of the starting blocks in the race to prevent catastrophic climate change, with other nations far ahead.

This fourth Kyoto Report Card prepared by Sierra Club of Canada marks the second anniversary of the coming into force of the Kyoto Protocol on February 16, 2005. The year 2007 is also significant in that it is the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Kyoto Protocol.

The Kyoto Report Card first describes a vision for a low-carbon future and summarizes why the Kyoto Protocol is the foundation for achieving that future. Progress achieved by other countries in reducing carbon pollution is highlighted to show that a low-carbon future for Canada is possible. The sorry events of 2006 in which Canada, for a time, lost all momentum in implementing the Kyoto Protocol are described, as well as the more positive federal initiatives in 2007. Highlights of provincial progress (and lack of same) in implementing the treaty are reviewed. A snapshot in the life of a Kyoto-friendly Canadian family is presented. Finally a ten-point plan for meeting Canada’s Kyoto Protocol targets is outlined.

Some of the key findings of the 2007 Kyoto Report Card are as follows:

Other countries have shown that Kyoto Protocol emissions reduction targets can be met. The United Kingdom has already met its targets. Sweden is on track to meet its targets by reducing its dependence on oil from 77% to 32% of its energy needs, even as it phases out nuclear power.

Recently announced Conservative government programs will not achieve an overall reduction in Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions. To date, the announcements have been ad hoc and no comprehensive plan is evident. There is no indication that the Conservative government plans to ramp up these programs to the level needed to meet Kyoto Protocol or longer-term targets. More telling is the government’s commitment to a five-fold increase in tar sands oil production, which would dramatically drive up Canada’s emissions.

Bill C-30, the Conservative government’s proposal for a Clean Air act tabled in the House of Commons in October 2006, would have added few powers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions beyond those already set out in federal law. Key amendments proposed by 24 major environmental groups would have created legal obligations to deliver emissions reductions to meet Kyoto and longer-term targets. Also in October, the government issued a notice of intent to
regulate large final emitters under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, but the proposed approach focuses on reducing emissions intensity, rather than on achieving absolute decreases in emissions. Intensity targets are unacceptable and will not reduce overall emissions.

Ontario and Alberta are the biggest provincial laggards in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Ontario has delayed the phase-out of coal-fired plants, rejected a California-style vehicle fuel-emission standard, and committed $45 billion to expanding nuclear power production. Alberta has no plan to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions and has failed to regulate reductions in rapidly increasing emissions from the tar sands. While Quebec stands out as a leader for its climate plan, implementation has been slow due in part to federal tardiness in providing financial support.

Canada’s Kyoto Protocol targets can still be met by 2012 without damaging the economy assuming that federal leadership builds on the social consensus that meeting these targets is a top priority for the country. Canadians built a railway to the Pacific, helped defeat the most notorious tyrant in history, led international efforts to close the hole in the ozone layer, and convinced industry and American governments to stop acid rain. We did these things without knowing at the beginning exactly how we were going to achieve them. Canada must not give up on our Kyoto targets before we have even started work.