Unceded and unsurrendered Wolastoqey/Mi’kmaq/Peskotomuhkati territory/Fredericton – The Conservation Council of New Brunswick welcomes today’s provincial progress report on climate action and calls for an immediate update and deepening of greenhouse gas reduction targets to reflect the latest climate science and federal climate proposals.
“The progress report shows the province is moving too slowly on the transformative change required to decarbonize our economy to achieve near-zero emissions,” says Dr. Louise Comeau, Director of the Conservation Council’s Climate Change and Energy Program.
In addition to fully implementing the existing plan, New Brunswick needs to update its climate plan to reflect the federal government’s new proposal, including a planned carbon price reaching $170/tonne by 2030. The province’s current actions do not align with emission reduction requirements in its own Climate Change Act (10.7 Mt by 2030 and 5 Mt by 2050).
This year also marks an intense period of federal-provincial negotiations as Canada prepares to align with a renewed U.S. commitment to climate action and to raise ambition through a strengthened nationally determined contribution (NDC) later this spring as part of the preparation for the UN Conference of the Parties meeting scheduled for Glasgow in November 2021. This will include a stronger federal 2030 greenhouse-gas reduction target.
The Conservation Council calls on Premier Higgs to direct the Climate Change and Environmental Stewardship Standing Committee to launch consultations in February to update the provincial climate plan so we align with federal proposals released in December 2020, and to identify options for deeper cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.
“The province’s emissions are on track to meet current federal emissions reduction goals, but are not in line with the stronger targets and reductions in New Brunswick’s own Climate Change Act. We need to put the province on track to near-zero by 2050,” says Comeau.
In addition to tasking the Legislative Committee with updating the province’s plan, the Conservation Council calls on the province to:
- increase support to low-income housing retrofits in its upcoming budget to cut energy use and reduce energy poverty; and,
- include stronger accountability in future progress reports, provide detailed analysis of the greenhouse gas reductions due to specific measures in the plan, and to detail exactly how carbon-pricing revenue is allocated to specific measures in existing and future climate action plans.
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For more information or to arrange an interview, contact:
Jon MacNeill, Communications Director, Conservation Council of New Brunswick: jon.macneill@conservationcouncil.ca | 506-238-3539