Canada's Action on Climate Change Fact Sheet

Canada recognizes that climate change is a global challenge requiring a global solution and we will continue to work closely with our international partners to achieve a fair, effective and comprehensive outcome at Copenhagen.

The Government of Canada remains committed to contributing to the global effort by taking action to reduce Canada's total greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. This target is completely aligned with the U.S. target, and is subject to adjustment to remain consistent with the U.S. target. Aligning our climate change policies with those of the United States is a critical element of Canada's overall approach, given the close integration of our economies and our geographic proximity.

Canada's target is ambitious, given our climate, geography, growing population and the importance of our energy sector to economic growth across the country.

TAKING ACTION AT HOME

To achieve our target, Canada is developing a suite of policies and measures that will:

• regulate emissions;
• enhance energy efficiency;
• increase the share of renewable energy in the overall energy mix; and
• promote and accelerate technology development and deployment.

Regulating Emissions

The Government of Canada is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from new vehicles. We have already introduced tough new regulations that align with the mandatory national standards of the United States beginning with the 2011 model year. This will have significant benefits for emissions reductions, given that transportation accounts for over one-quarter of Canada's total greenhouse gas emissions.

Energy Efficiency

Canada has long been committed to increasing energy efficiency. Building on the success of the ecoENERGY programs, which represent an investment of $4.2 billion, Canada has achieved significant improvements in energy conservation and efficiency in every sector of our economy.

As part of this, the ecoENERGY Efficiency Initiative is investing more than $675 million to promote smarter energy use in our homes, buildings and on the road.

In 2009, the Canadian Government allocated an additional $300 million towards the ecoENERGY Retrofit-Homes program, which provides financial support to implement energy-saving projects in Canadian homes.

Budget 2009 also allocated $1 billion over two years to support renovations and energy retrofits for social housing on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis with the provinces and territories to make social housing more energy efficient.

Amendments to the Energy Efficiency Act have introduced energy efficiency standards for a number of new products and set higher standards for several existing products.

Renewable Energy

Canada is already a world leader in the use of renewable energy, with our electricity supply mix being one of the cleanest and most renewable in the world. Hydroelectricity, the largest renewable energy source in Canada, accounts for approximately 60 percent of Canada's electricity generation, making Canada the world's second-largest producer of hydro power. Along with energy sources such as nuclear, biomass, wind and solar, clean energy contributes approximately 73 percent of Canada's total electricity mix.

This Government is committed to building on our success with clean energy and wants to lead the world in clean electricity generation as part of its overall strategy to combat climate change. The Government also intends to implement regulations to increase renewable fuel content in gasoline by 2010 and in diesel and heating oil by 2011, or earlier subject to technical feasibility.

Promoting Technology Development and Deployment

Since 2008, Canada has spent and committed, at both federal and provincial levels, approximately $11 billion to support clean energy and technology investments. Since 2005, annual federal investment in clean energy and technology has increased by about 50 percent.

A significant portion of Canada's economic stimulus spending in 2009 has focused on developing, demonstrating, and deploying clean energy technologies in areas where Canada can make the greatest contribution domestically and internationally. This includes carbon capture and storage, electricity grid efficiency, fuel-efficient vehicles, bio-energy, and renewable energy such as wind, solar and geothermal.

Budget 2010 built on this stimulus spending with new measures totaling $190 million to support a cleaner, more sustainable environment. This includes:

• $100 million for Next Generation Renewable Power Initiative to support advanced clean technology in the forest sector;
• $2.8 million for consultations by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency with Aboriginal communities;
• Expansion of the accelerated capital cost allowance for clean energy generation equipment to additional applications involving heat recovery and district energy;
• $18.4 million to the Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators Program to enhance the tracking of environmental data including air quality and greenhouse gas emissions.

Carbon Capture and Storage

In recent years, Canada's federal and provincial governments have committed a total of approximately $3 billion in funding for carbon capture and storage, including: 

• The Clean Energy Fund will support three to five large-scale CCS demonstration projects in Canada. One of these will be the construction of one of the world's first fully-integrated CCS projects in Alberta. This project will be done in partnership with the Province of Alberta. 
• Approximately $2 billion towards CCS projects from the Government of Alberta, including the recent funding announcement of $750 million towards Shell Canada's Energy Quest project in Fort Saskatchewan.
• $240 million from the Government of Canada and $50 million from the Government of Saskatchewan to implement a full-scale CCS demonstration at a coal-fired plant.
• $151 million from the federal government through Canada's ecoENERGY Technology Initiative, the Government of Canada has allocated $151 million toward CCS projects in a range of industrial sectors.
• $18.7 million from the Government of Canada through Sustainable Development Technology Canada for a range of pre-commercialization CCS projects.

Canada's domestic clean technology investments include:

• $500 million for Sustainable Development Technology Canada's Next Generation Fund to support the establishment of commercial-scale demonstration facilities for the production of next-generation renewable fuels.
• $1 billion over five years for Green Infrastructure Fund for projects including public transit, sustainable energy and waste management.
• $1.3 billion over two years to support renovations and energy retrofits for Canada's social housing, cost-shared with the provinces.
• $4.2 billion for ecoENERGY initiatives, which are helping Canadians use energy more efficiently, boost renewable energy supplies, and develop cleaner energy technologies.

AN ACTIVE AND CONSTRUCTIVE INTERNATIONAL PARTNER

Recognizing that no one country can act alone to address the climate change challenge, the Government of Canada has been working actively and constructively with its international partners through a range of multilateral and bilateral fora.

Copenhagen Conference

At the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change, Canada worked collaboratively with other Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change towards the Copenhagen Accord, an agreement that marked a significant breakthrough in the global effort to address climate change. Canada will continue to work constructively in 2010 to implement the Copenhagen Accord and to complete the negotiations under the UNFCCC for a comprehensive, legally binding post-2012 agreement.

G8

At the G8 Summit in L'Aquila Italy in July 2009, Prime Minister Stephen Harper joined other G8 Leaders in recognizing the broad scientific view that the increase in global average temperature above pre-industrial levels ought not to exceed two degrees Celsius. To this end, the G8 leaders agreed to work together towards the goal of achieving a 50 percent reduction of global emissions by 2050, as well as the goal of developed countries reducing emissions of greenhouse gases in aggregate by 80 percent or more by 2050.

Provincial/Territorial Consultation

In September 2009, Minister Prentice completed a series of meetings across the country with provincial and territorial Premiers and Ministers to exchange views in the lead-up to Copenhagen. These meetings were constructive and provided an opportunity to explore synergies between federal, provincial and territorial approaches to climate change. On Nov. 25, 2009 Minister Prentice held a face-to-face meeting with all provincial and territorial representatives on the delegation to Copenhagen.

Our Government remains committed to working with provincial and territorial governments and our partners to develop and implement our ambitious climate change policies and initiatives, and to work towards a comprehensive, legally-binding post-2012 international agreement.

Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate

Canada has also been an active participant in the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF), an initiative launched in March 2009 by American President Barack Obama to bring together the world's 17 largest emitters to advance key issues under consideration in international climate change negotiations. At the MEF Summit in July 2009, leaders agreed to launch the Global Partnership for low-carbon and climate-friendly technologies.

On Dec. 14^, 2009 in Copenhagen, U.S. Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu launched the MEF Technology Action Plans, which laid out options for ambitious government action on 10 key clean energy technologies. This includes advanced vehicles; bioenergy; building energy efficiency; carbon capture, use and storage; high-efficiency, low-emissions coal; industrial energy efficiency; marine energy; smart grid; solar energy; and wind energy.

Asia-Pacific Partnership

Canada is a member of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP),  a public-private partnership of seven countries - Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan, South Korea, and the United States - that seeks to accelerate the development, deployment and diffusion of clean energy technologies. Prime Minister Harper announced in December 2009 that Canada is investing in 19 new clean technology projects under the Partnership, representing an investment of $8.4 million over two years.

MOU with China

Canada and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Climate Change on Dec. 6, 2009. Our two countries will work together on the long-term global effort to address climate change through mitigation and adaptation. This MOU will strengthen Canada-China cooperation in areas such as energy conservation and efficiency, renewable energy, carbon capture and storage, methane recovery and utilization, and sustainable land management.

Adaptation

Canada recognizes the importance of developing countries being able to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. This is why Canada, together with other industrialized countries, will provide funding to help developing economies reduce emissions and adapt to climate change as outlined in the Copenhagen Accord.

The Government of Canada has already made significant contributions to multilateral organizations focused on adaptation, including:

• $318 million under the Global Environment Facility (GEF) trust fund between 2002 and 2010, of which approximately one-third was directed to GEF climate change related activities;  
• $100 million to the World Bank's Pilot Program for Climate Resilience between 2008 and 2010, making Canada the largest donor of grant funding to date;
• $13.5 million to the Special Climate Change Fund for adaptation and technology; and
• $5.5 million for the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research under the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Challenge Program.

At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago in November 2009, Canada welcomed the proposal to provide fast-start funding as part of a comprehensive agreement at Copenhagen. This funding will start in 2010 and build to a total of $10 billion annually by 2012 from contributing countries.  

Commonwealth Heads also agreed this funding should be targeted to provide substantial support to adaptation in the most vulnerable countries; research, development and deployment of clean technologies; and action to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries.     

Alignment with the U.S.

Closer to home, Canada has been working with the United States to align our strategies and work together to develop realistic targets and goals. Canada recognizes the North American economy is integrated to the point where it makes absolutely no sense to proceed without harmonizing and aligning a range of principles, policies, regulations and standards. This is why we have inscribed in the Copenhagen Accord an emissions reductions target that is completely aligned with the U.S. target, and is subject to adjustment to remain consistent with the U.S. target. This target is a 17 percent reduction from 2005 levels by 2020.

In February 2009, Prime Minister Harper and President Obama established the U.S.-Canada Clean Energy Dialogue (CED). The purpose of this Dialogue is to enhance joint collaboration on the development of clean energy science and technology to reduce greenhouse gases and combat climate change.

The  Clean Energy Dialogue Action Plan outlines a set of recommendations for joint initiatives in the following areas:

• Developing and deploying clean energy technologies, with a focus on carbon capture and storage;
• Expanding clean energy research and development; and
• Building a more efficient electricity grid based on clean and renewable generation.

Canada, working in tandem with the U.S., has also established common North American standards for regulating greenhouse gases from new vehicles starting for the 2011 model year - an approach that will benefit the environment, industry and consumers. These new regulations will provide certainty to the industry and will require significant technological improvements to vehicles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

North American Leaders' Summit

Within the region, Canada has been engaging with the United States and Mexico on key climate change and energy issues. At the North American Leaders' Summit in August 2009, the leaders of those three countries agreed to collaborate in a number of areas, including carbon capture and storage, gas flaring, and energy efficiency. They also agreed to work towards a 21^st century continental smart grid.

The Government of Canada will continue to focus on the development of a fair and effective international climate change agreement that:  

• Balances environmental protection and economic prosperity - We must take sustained action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen adaptation to a changing climate, without placing an undue burden on the growth of any country.
• Has a long-term focus - We must put in place international and domestic policies needed to achieve deep reductions in emissions over time, contributing to the global goal of at least a 50 percent reduction in emissions by 2050.
• Supports the development and deployment of clean technologies - We must stimulate innovation in low-carbon technologies through market-based policies and strategic technology initiatives and investments.
• Supports constructive and ambitious global action - Working with our North American partners and all parties through the United Nations negotiating process to reach a fair, effective and comprehensive international climate change agreement.
• Includes commitments from all major economies - We must ensure that all major emitters assume mitigation commitments and strengthen adaptation activities that match with their responsibilities and capabilities.