Tackling climate change necessarily means reducing emissions of greenhouse gases that cause it. The best science indicates that global greenhouse gas emissions will have to be cut by 50 to 80 per cent from 1990 levels by 2050 in order to avoid dangerous climate change. The threshold of a dangerous level of climate change is widely recognized as two degrees Celsius of average global warming above pre-industrial temperatures. Beyond this point, the severity of projected ecological and human impacts increases dramatically. However some major climate change impacts will still occur at lower temperatures. Indeed, climate-driven shifts like the collapse in arctic sea-ice cover and Western Canada’s mountain pine beetle infestation are underway today, after an average global warming of 0.76 degrees Celsius since the last half of the 19th century.
Industrialized countries, including Canada, will have to cut emissions more deeply than the global average target of 50 to 80 per cent reductions because we already emit many times more greenhouse gases than the global average per capita. Moreover, developed countries including Canada have emitted most of the excess greenhouse gases already in the Earth’s atmosphere. Finally, developed countries like Canada have much greater ability than the developing world to implement and pay for the sustainable-energy infrastructure required to address global warming.
Canada’s per capita emissions continue to be among the highest in the world. Therefore, for Canada to do its fair share in avoiding dangerous climate change, our emissions would have to be reduced to at least 25 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020. This will help ensure that we are able to get to a 2050 target of at least 80 per cent below 1990 levels.
Questions for candidates:
1. Will you set a greenhouse gas emission reduction target that will aim to reduce Canada’s emission to at least 25 per cent below 1990 by the year 2020?
2. If so, what key policy(ies) will allow you to reach that target?