Stimulating a Canadian narrative for climate
Abstract
Stimulating a Canadian narrative for climate action
Reaching a scholarly consensus
Topic | Statement |
---|---|
Energy | |
1. Federal and provincial governments should develop a national energy policy and long-term plans, respectively, for transitioning to a mainly renewable energy economy. Note: One scholar stresses that this statement needs to be fine-tuned. Renewable energy is not the answer to everything and not allrenewable energy is sustainable. | |
2. Terminate direct and indirect domestic subsidization of the petroleum industry. Redirect these funds to initiatives aiming to reduce GHG emissions. | |
3. Support international efforts to end fossil fuel subsidies globally. | |
4. Implement a moratorium on further development of the oil sands. | |
5. Immediately embark on a trajectory of ending oil sand extraction in Alberta within 10 years: i. Continuing to do so will put the world on the most aggressive CO2 growth curve, spelling disaster; ii. Continuing to do so endangers downstream ecosystems in Alberta. | |
6. Federal and provincial governments should avoid costly and irrevocable investments in obsolete energy sources, e.g., fossil fuel-based technologies, in the short term. | |
7. Novel energy policies should promote renewable energy, low energy consumption, residential insulation, and the use of environmentally sound designs. Environmental performance considerations should be integrated into federal decision-making processes. Aggressive policies need not be expensive (e.g., adding solar hot water to every new house would be ∼1% of the house’s value. | |
Low-carbon policy | |
1. Develop a national climate change policy. | |
2. Put a price on carbon either by joining the international carbon market or through a carbon tax for all enterprises operating in Canada. | |
Cities/transportation | |
1. Set national automobile emission standards that match regions with “best practices” (i.e., California within North America). | |
2. Introduce more rapid transit within cities. Rapid transit need not be expensive (e.g., no need for subways), but can be facilitated by clever use of buses (see example of Jaime Lerner in Curitiba, Brazil (Adler 2016)). | |
3. Support sustainable transportation initiatives at the municipal level, including through federal infrastructure money. | |
4. Integrate sustainable development and climate change into the heart of territorial and urban planning (laws, orientation, etc.), including incentives to move away from reliance on cars, support for greater expansion of public transportation, tolls in areas with heavier traffic, improvements to current road infrastructure without creating new roads, etc. | |
5. Create “smart cities”, which means that all of the systems (water, waste, energy, transportation, buildings, etc.) are made sustainable, clean, accessible, and integrated and connected using clean advanced technologies. In doing so, enforce sustainable sourcing for new building and retrofits. | |
6. Develop new building codes that improve housing sector energy efficiency. (Homeowners often weigh the upfront price of a house more heavily than operating costs; this makes it important to use the building code rather than rely on builders and homebuyers to make the best decision independently.) | |
Land use | |
1. Decrease deforestation practices and increase protection of forests—natural carbon sinks. | |
Information, education, and research | |
1. Inform society on climate change mitigation and adaptation so that everyone can understand the key issues and act on them. Inform the necessary stakeholders and decision makers of the risks and available options linked to climate change and promote dialogue regarding possible measures of mitigation and adaptation. | |
2. Promote applied research in the domain of sustainable cities, taking into account mitigation of and adaptation to climate change impacts. |
Note: Statements with high feasibility and potential impact (i.e., with median score of 3 and a low dispersion (interquartile range of 0 (N = 2) or 1 (N = 16)) were retained. A total of 43 scholars answered at least one of the three rounds. For further details, see Supplementary Methods.
Climate change governance
Scholars’ proposal
Civil society responses
Implementation
Contribution | Name of initiative | Description | Link |
---|---|---|---|
Energy production | |||
Montreal Carbon Pledge | Measures carbon footprint of investment portfolios | ||
Suncor | Invests in technology to reduce environmental impact | ||
Par notre propre énergie | Creates conditions to reduce oil dependence in Quebec | ||
High Conservation Value framework of Forest Stewardship Council | Identifies places of high ecological value to avoid in renewable projects | ||
Investment in wind energy in Paintearth County and Pincher Creek, Alberta | Establishment of wind farms in districts of Alberta | ||
Ontario feed-in tariff program | Payments for renewable energy use to encourage investment | ||
Divest McGill | Campaigns for McGill University to divest its endowment from the fossil fuel industry | ||
Columbia Hydro Constructors | Implemented employment equity programs in the late 1990s that provided training and opportunities for marginalized groups in the province | ||
Sustainable Development Technology Canada | Provides venture capital to support precommercialization development of clean technology options | ||
Climate Change and Emissions Management initiative | Provides start-up capital to promising clean technologies | ||
Flow-through shares for clean energy modeled after mining industry | — | ||
Energy consumption | |||
Neighbourhood Energy Utility, Vancouver | Recapture of waste water to improve building energy efficiency | ||
Montreal Transit | Commitment to 100% electrified transit | ||
ecoENERGY and ENERGY STAR | Programs that improve consumer product efficiency, taking pressure off the grid and helping reduce utility peak energy requirements | ||
Pay-as-you-save, Manitoba | Manitoba Hydro pays upfront energy upgrade costs and households pay from savings in utility bills | ||
Adaptive governance | |||
Établissement vert Brundtland (EVB-CSQ) | Network of institutions to educate public and youth for sustainable development | ||
Fundy Biosphere Reserve | Enhances communities’ and students’ climate change adaptation capacity and awareness | ||
Canadian Commission for UNESCO Youth Advisory Group | Network of youth to identify youth’s concerns, recommendations, and coordinate projects | ||
NordMAB’s Students On Ice | Educational youth expeditions to polar regions | ||
Climat municipalités, Quebec | Helps municipalities contribute to climate change mitigation | ||
Partners for Climate Protection | Promotes GHG reduction initiatives in municipalities |
Pricing carbon to begin the transition
Scholars’ proposal
Civil society responses
Implementation
Concerns
Energy production
Scholars’ proposal
Civil society responses
Implementation
Concerns
Energy consumption
Scholars’ proposal
Civil society responses
Implementation
Concerns
A new climate narrative: learning from the past
Acknowledgements
References
Supplementary material
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