Climate Change & the Environment

Our Government’s Work on
Climate Change and the Environment

Since being elected in 2015, I have been firmly committed to climate action. These are highlights of the policies, programs, and investments we’ve made and developed since 2015.

Our Liberal government knows that Canadians care about combating climate change and conserving our environment for future generations. That is why we’ve taken bold action to reduce emissions, invest in clean technology, promote green infrastructure and protect our oceans.

Download our report, or read more here about how our plan is working for Canadians.

Reducing
Emissions

Setting ambitious GHG emission reductions targets and developing a clear plan to achieve them is a key part of our plan to take on climate change.

Our ambitious 2030 targets are to reduce our carbon output to a point of 30% below 2005 levels. In 2015, annual emissions were climbing quickly and Canada produced 815 megatonnes of emissions that year – by 2030, we will drop to 523 megatonnes. We reduced our projected emissions for 2030 by an additional 21 million tonnes.

How are we doing this?

  • Reductions as a result of regulations introduced in November 2016 (HFC’s, heavy duty vehicles, targeted decrease in methane emissions by 40-45% by 2025);
  • Reductions through changes of electricity use (targets to have 90% of Canada’s electricity coming from non-emitting sources by 2030) – we’ve accelerated the phase out of coal power, and with its removal by 2030, the equivalent will
    have been that of removing 1.3 million cars from the road;
  • Reductions from additional measures such as public transit and green infrastructure, technology and innovation, and stored carbon.

Putting forward a
National Price on Carbon

We’ve put a nationwide price on pollution. It’s worked incredibly well here in BC for the last ten years.

A transparent national price on carbon allows individual consumers and businesses to price the rising cost of pollution into their everyday decision making. This provides a powerful economic incentive for individuals to invest in driving Canada towards a low carbon future. A family may purchase an electric vehicle sooner than they would have otherwise, and a business might invest in more energy efficient equipment for their factory. This will be such a positive step forward in our fight against climate change.