Editorial: Time to cheer – but also to pressure – PM Trudeau

Canadians of all political persuasions care about climate action. Watching Canada fall behind the rest of the world over the past 10 years has been deeply disturbing to many. We became climate laggards. We yearn to be leaders.

The hope that Canada would act on scientific evidence and contribute to climate solutions was bolstered when Justin Trudeau became prime minister in late 2015. He quickly announced he would personally go to Paris for the December climate negotiations. He gave his new environment minister, Catherine McKenna, the expanded title of “minister of environment and climate change,” and sent her to COP21 with instructions to make Canadians proud. He even convened all the premiers before Paris to review the latest climate science.

So, how much better is Canada’s climate target than before the Liberals swept to power? Astonishingly, not one bit. Despite all the activity that has taken place, Canada is ignoring its greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal. The Harper government’s goal of reducing emissions 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 is still Canada’s target. So while the premiers are building a plan, they’re building it to hit the old, weak target.

Canada’s leadership in getting the world to agree to hold global average temperature to 1.5 degrees will come to nothing if our current levels of commitment remain in place. In fact, the impact of the aggregate of actions pledged to date by all nations — assuming all countries hit their targets on time — will not be to hold global average temperature to 1.5 C. Those actions will not hold temperature to 2 C. The impact of hitting current targets on global average temperature ranges from 2.7 to 3.5 C.

Unless the current round of targets is withdrawn and replaced by more ambitious actions — something called for in the Paris Agreement as “ratcheting up” — we’ll lose any chance of keeping Arctic ice at the pole, which will set off feedback loops that will accelerate global warming.

These levels of global average temperature increase are beyond catastrophic. Low-lying island states will be condemned to sinking below the rising sea level. Increasingly persistent and severe droughts and floods will force millions from their homes and have devastating impacts on food and water supplies.

We have to put the question of Canada’s domestic target back on the table. Now is when we need to encourage, cheer and pressure our prime minister to step up — for my grandchildren, for his children and for all of us.

David Suzuki