Time for climate accountability

Time for climate accountability

By Cecile Wilson

PHOTO: DAVID WILSONE

CO2 at Mauna Loa, 25 August 2024: 421.72 ppm

There’s a lot of buzz around the measures we can take as individuals to lower our greenhouse gas emissions. Large or small, each of these measures makes an actual, physical difference. But suppose we’re going to reach emission-reduction targets set by municipal, provincial and federal governments and lower our chances of devastating weather events. In that case, we’re going to need governments, corporations and organizations to join us with timely, decisive action on climate change.

With this in mind, on Saturday, September 21, Fridays for Future (FFF) Ottawa-Gatineau will be calling out six “climate culprits” who are accused of “blocking effective climate policy, spreading misinformation and providing funding to the disastrous fossil-fuel industry.”

Background

Canada is the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission outlier of the G7. To meet our 2030 target, we need to get to 25 percent below our 1990 level of emissions. Since 1990, however, Canada’s emissions have risen by 17 percent. If our governments and corporations had taken the Paris Agreements seriously in 2016, we would have had to reduce our emissions by 19 million tonnes of CO2 per year to meet the 2030 goal. By delaying significant action, we must now reduce yearly emissions by 36 million tonnes, almost twice the amount.

Dirty energy

FFF Ottawa-Gatineau named the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and the Canadian Gas Association (CGA) as climate culprits because of their efforts to sabotage the transition to renewable energy by deliberately spreading misinformation and by lobbying governments for special treatment when it comes to regulating emissions. CGA has paid for anonymous ads on various platforms by an advocacy group promoting fossil gas (aka ‘natural’ gas) as a clean source of energy. While it is true that fossil gas produces fewer emissions than coal, it is not emission-free. Fossil gas is mostly composed of methane, a gas that is shorter-lived than CO2 but much more potent. CAPP puts much of its efforts into lobbying governments for policy decisions and regulations that are favourable to its industry. So far, its 23 registered lobbyists have been successful in fighting a cap on emissions. Despite fossil fuels being the largest contributor to Canada’s climate-destabilizing emissions, there are no limits to how much pollution fossil fuel companies can produce during extraction and refining. However, the federal government is in the process of drafting regulations to address this exception.

Dirty money

Export Development Canada (EDC) and the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) make the climate culprit list because they fund fossil-fuel projects that are making climate disasters many times more likely. According to 2023, Export Development Canada (EDC) provided $7.3 billion in fossil-fuel subsidies. On September 21, the Fridays for Future Climate March will be calling on EDC and six other organizations to stop favouring fossil fuels and commit to timely, decisive action on climate change. Environmental Defense, EDC provided$7.3 billion dollars in fossil-fuel sub-sidies in 2023 alone.Although all big-five Canadian banksare heavily invested in the fossil fuelsector, RBC has consistently been thetop funder. According to the 2024 Bank-ing on Climate Chaos report, RBC hasinvested $256 US billion in fossil fuelssince 2016.

Political posturing

When Doug Ford took power in 2018, one of the first things he did was cancel 758 renewable-energy projects, including a partially built windfarm. More recently, the provincial government is sending mixed messages. While it announced an intention last December to secure 5000 megawatts of electricity from renewable sources, in that same month it blocked the Ontario Energy Board’s recommendation to pass on the cost of gas lines in new subdivisions to developers instead of homeowners. In addition, the Ford government is increasing the supply of gas-fired electricity.

Act now

Why is the City of Ottawa a climate culprit? The City has a detailed plan to move towards a low-carbon future but according to Fridays for Future, itis suffering from a lack of leadership and commitment to implement that plan. The City needs to fully fund its climate plan, develop green building and retrofit plans, fix its transit woes and use zoning and bylaws to make Ottawa more pedestrian and EV-friendly, they say. One of the most disturbing impediments to progress on climate action is the veritable moratorium on renewable-energy projects while the City develops zoning and permitting regulations for those projects.

What you can do

Join the Climate March with yourfriends and family on September 21 at 11 a.m. at City Hall.  See fridaysforfutureottawa.org for more details. Never think of yourself as too small to matter. If you’ve ever been in a room at night with a mosquito, you’ll know how powerful one can be!

Upcoming

If you are a senior interested in climate action, join Seniors for Climate Action Now (SCAN) for their National Seniors Day for Climate.

Date: Tuesday, October 1 Time:1-4 p.m.

Place: Knox Presbyterian Church,120 Lisgar (at Elgin) Cecile Wilson is a senior in the Glebe interested in climate action and the discourse of climate change.