National Groups Call for Ambitious Implementation of Canada’s Climate Framework
On September 14, 2017, a group of national organizations issued an open letter to the Canadian government championing the swift and uncompromising implementation of the Pan-Canadian Framework on Climate Change and Clean Growth.
In the letter, signatories offer their assistance to the Canadian government on implementing specific elements of the Framework. Signatories emphasize the comprehensive and interconnected nature of the Framework, which requires that each of its pieces be carried forward with the utmost integrity so that Canada stays true to its climate commitments and moves forward with just economic transition.
Together, these organizations represent the diverse interests of millions of Canadians across the country, including workers, businesses, farmers, health professionals, people of faith, and civil society. Signatories include The United Church of Canada, the National Farmers Union, the Canadian Public Health Association, the Canadian Labour Congress, Canadian Business for Social Responsibility, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, and Climate Action Network Canada.
QUOTES FROM SIGNATORIES:
“Canada is increasingly exerting strong international influence, as hosts of IPCC-46, co-organizers with China and the EU of a Ministerial on Paris Agreement implementation, and 2018 G7 President. With the world looking to Canada for climate leadership, we have to walk our talk at home and abroad by continuing to increase international climate finance and maintaining the ambition of the Framework so that we close the gap to our current climate commitments and go beyond them to get closer to our fair share of the global effort. There is no room for backing down. That means safeguarding high standards for equivalency agreements with provinces on issues like methane.“
Catherine Abreu, Executive Director, Climate Action Network Canada | 902 412 8953 | catherineabreu@climateactionnetwork.ca
"Climate change is the single greatest challenge of our time and Canada's labour movement is ready to take it head on. Canada must be ambitious in tackling climate change. If we are to realize the good jobs potential of climate action, we must make sure the benefits are shared. We must commit to a just transition for workers and their communities as integral to our work to meet our climate commitments."
Hassan Yussuff, President, Canadian Labour Congress | 613 850 1474 | tpeel@clc-ctc.ca
“As this summer has shown us, climate change poses a significant threat to the health, safety, and well-being of Canadians. The good news is that many of the actions needed to address climate change, such as the closure of coal plants and investments in public transit and active modes of transportation, will produce immediate health benefits for Canadians, while also mitigating climate change.”
Kim Perrotta, Executive Director, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment | 905 320 8710 | kim@cape.ca
"Many Canadian businesses including CBSR member companies are already innovating and establishing themselves as leaders in a low carbon economy. CBSR is releasing new practical tools to help many more companies align with the Pan-Canadian Framework. Maintaining a consistent national approach to managing greenhouse gas emissions sends a strong signal to the market and more certainty is good for business."
Leor Rotchild, Executive Director, Canadian Business for Social Responsibility | 403 389 5367 | leor@cbsr.ca
“It is estimated that climate change already causes 400,000 deaths annually, while another 4.5 million deaths annually are linked to air pollution, hazardous occupations and cancer associated with our carbon-intensive energy system. The future of life on Earth cannot be taken for granted as our species has the capacity to influence that future – for good or ill. Armed with a new understanding of key principles, concepts and values, we can create a healthier, more just, more sustainable future.”
Ian Culbert, Executive Director, Canadian Public Health Association | 613 894 2957 | iculbert@cpha.ca
“Farmers are among those most directly affected by climate instability. While many current practices contribute to GHG problems, we can become a bigger part of the solution. Canada needs to help farmers adapt to the reality of climate change impacts with measures that increase resiliency of farms while reducing farm and food system-wide emissions, providing fair livelihoods to farmers and a future for the next generation of farmers, and securing Canada’s ability to sustainably provide food for our residents and international customers.”
Jan Slomp, National Farmers Union | 403 704 4364 | marian.jan@gmail.com
“Climate change remains the greatest moral challenge of our generation. As people of faith, working to mitigate climate change is one way we follow God's commandment to 'choose life' (Deut 30:15-20). The United Church therefore welcomes this opportunity to work together with other Canadians in calling for the robust implementation of the Pan-Canadian Climate Framework on Climate Change and Clean Growth.”
Mardi Tindal, United Church of Canada | 647 989 4153 | cneufeldt@united-church.ca
The Pan-Canadian Framework on Climate Change and Clean Growth was released in December 2016. It is the first document of its kind that brings the federal government, most provincial and territorial governments, and all major sectors of our economy together on a shared path of climate action.
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CONTACT: Catherine Abreu, Executive Director, CAN-Rac Canada | +1 902 412 8953 catherineabreu@climateactionnetwork.ca
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View the letter: https://climateactionnetwork.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/FINAL_PCFletter.pdf
Dear Prime Minister and Ministers,
The Pan-Canadian Framework on Climate Change and Clean Growth is a game-changing move for Canada. As a group of national organizations who represent the diverse interests of millions of Canadians across the country, including workers, businesses, farmers, health professionals, people of faith, and civil society, we write to acknowledge the historic significance of this document, and affirm our commitment to a new era of coordinated climate action at the scale science requires.
Global economic trends are clear: Canada’s long-term prosperity depends on our governments making the necessary investments now to ensure Canadian businesses and workers can participate in a global economic transformation already well underway. Our economic future requires us to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that put our livable climate at risk and lock in low carbon and affordable energy sources in every corner of our society. Only by doing so can we generate good, long-term jobs for Canadians, help Canadian clean technology firms excel in a global market expected to exceed $2 trillion per year by 2020, and enhance the competitiveness of our established industries by maximizing the efficiency and environmental performance of their operations. We must also use this transition to address economic inequities, advance the health of all Canadians, and improve the lives and livelihoods of vulnerable Canadians.
Just transition measures must be a hallmark of the way forward to ensure the necessary supports for affected workers and their communities are in place and to help build the broad-based consensus needed to meet our emissions reduction commitments.
We know that transitioning to a low carbon economy will also impose costs and present challenges. We must ensure that the challenges of this transition do not rest only on those who make their living in sectors that will be affected. We believe that climate policies can support our economic competitiveness and improve the health of Canadians if they are designed in a way that addresses their impact on business, workers and their communities.
Gone are the days of fragmented approaches and empty target setting. Canada has the opportunity to become a global leader in confronting climate change, and indeed the international community now looks to Canada with renewed hope. Realizing this potential means executing the Framework to its full potential and showing consistency between policy leadership and practical implementation. Canada could learn well from other jurisdictions that are successfully transitioning to cleaner energy sources while bolstering their economies and democracies as a result. We know the real work has just begun, and we stand ready to contribute now and for the years ahead as this transformative undertaking unfolds.
We the undersigned are ready to work with Canadian governments and private sector organizations to ensure the Pan-Canadian Framework is implemented with integrity and ambition Canadians deserve.
Specifically, we offer our support in:
• Prioritizing meaningful engagement characterized by shared decision making with Indigenous communities and the integration of Indigenous knowledge systems and world views into Canada’s climate change mitigation, adaptation and clean growth activities. This includes following-through with a commitment to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which incorporates the right to free, prior and informed consent.
• Bringing together workers, farmers and their communities, businesses, civil society and policy makers to ensure that just transition measures are integrated into all aspects of the clean energy transition;
• Launching the process promised in the Pan-Canadian Framework for Clean Growth and Climate Change that will bring the provinces and territories together to assess the competitiveness impact of the national program in 2020, and ensuring this process develops measures to protect Canadian business as the national plan to address climate change is implemented.
• Contributing detailed analysis and plans to maximize the good job and economic development potential of the clean energy transition;
• Increasing the ambition of our climate targets over time, in line with our Paris commitments;
• Shoring up robust oversight for the Pan-Canadian Framework and associated equivalency agreements to keep parties accountable to climate goals and increase transparency in government analysis and decision making, allowing Canada’s climate plans to course-correct in response to evidence and broad consultation with stakeholders;
• Implementing cost-effective solutions to reduce methane emissions that stimulate innovation, protect human health, and harness job-creation potential consistently across all provinces and territories;
• Rolling-out a robust federal backstop for carbon pricing that holds differing provincial systems to a common standard and supports governments in using carbon pricing revenues to protect Canada’s most vulnerable communities, including those with livelihoods in sectors that are most impacted;
• Opening the door to opportunities presented by Canadian innovation that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fuels;
• Modernizing Canada’s electricity systems to produce healthy, affordable and low carbon energy and to accommodate distributed power generation, which empowers communities;
• Transforming Canada’s transportation corridors to improve the health and safety of Canadians, minimize greenhouse gas emissions from transport of goods while ensuring efficient access to markets for Canadian businesses.
The opportunities presented by the Pan-Canadian Framework are many; we must act coherently to harness them. Effective implementation will turn the Pan-Canadian Framework into a plan that sets us up to meet our Paris pledge and reshape common perceptions of what success looks like in Canada.
Together we can protect the planet, the health of Canadians, and the world’s most vulnerable communities while building a resilient economy that safeguards prosperity and social justice for generations of Canadians to come.
Signed, The United Church of Canada, the National Farmers Union, the Canadian Public Health Association, the Canadian Labour Congress, Canadian Business for Social Responsibility, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, and Climate Action Network Canada
