Yesterday, the Canadian Government introduced legislation, the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, to achieve Canada’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The Act will do the following:
- Legally bind the Government to a process to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
- Set rolling five-year emissions-reduction targets and require plans to reach each one and report on progress.
- Establish the Net-Zero Advisory Body to provide independent advice to the Government on the best pathway to reach its targets.
- Require the Government of Canada to publish an annual report describing how departments and crown corporations are considering the financial risks and opportunities of climate change in their decision-making.
- Enshrine greater accountability and public transparency into Canada’s plan for meeting net-zero emissions by 2050.
- Provide for independent third-party review by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development to ensure accountability for all future governments.
In coming weeks, the Government will also announce an enhanced clean-growth plan and further investments designed to encourage, accelerate, and support the work that Canadian businesses are doing to move to a net-zero economy.
A number of provinces and cities have already made net-zero-by-2050 commitments, including Guelph, Vancouver, Hamilton, Toronto, Halifax, Newfoundland and Labrador, and most recently Quebec. Prince Edward Island has also pledged to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. Nova Scotia and British Columbia have put into place, or plan to put into place, provincial net-zero-by-2050 legislation.
Read Bill C-12 at this link:
https://parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-2/bill/C-12/first-reading
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Manning Environmental Law is a Canadian law firm based in Toronto, Ontario. Our practice is focussed on environmental law, energy law and aboriginal law.
Paul Manning is a certified specialist in environmental law. He has been named as one of the World’s Leading Environmental Lawyers and one of the World’s Leading Climate Change Lawyers by Who’s Who Legal. Paul is also ranked by Lexpert as one of Canada’s Leading Practitioners in Environmental Law.
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