Under the Paris Agreement, Canada has pledged $4 billion annually to help developing countries with climate change, but the government’s budget unveiled yesterday does not provide for it, says Dale Marshall of the non-profit Environmental Defence.
Fossil fuels still subsidized, says environmentalist
He is also disappointed that there was not more progress on the phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies. “Canada delivers hundreds of millions of dollars, sometimes billions of dollars per year to oil and gas companies. And that just doesn’t make sense in an era of climate change when we’re trying to phase out those industries over the course of 10 or 20 years.”
Marshall says the budget did neither deliver a reduction of fossil fuel subsidies nor a timetable for phasing them out.
Funding is promised to make buildings more energy efficient, but environmentalists would have liked more. (iStock)
On the plus side…
However, the budget did earmark one billion dollars to make commercial and residential buildings more energy efficient and $400 will be allotted to the purchase of zero-emission vehicles and charging stations. Marshall likes these measures but is concerned the money to retrofit buildings is not enough, and he says there is no guarantee the vehicle-related measures will not be used for those using natural gas, as they have been in the past. “We need to leapfrog gasoline and natural gas and go to electric vehicles,” he says.
Marshall says environmentalists were disappointed that the budget did not contain measures on water conservation and management, plastics or toxic chemicals. Some are angry, others disappointed.
Voters will decide in October
A federal election is scheduled for October 2019. Environmentalists will weigh this budget when they go to vote. They will also consider what, for them, are contradictory government initiatives: This government decided to oblige provincial governments to levy a carbon tax or similar measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And it also purchased a $4-billion pipeline to bring oil to the ocean for shipping abroad.
This Liberal government has struggled to meet its climate change promises and at the same time stop the decline of the oil industry which is critical to the economies of the western province of Alberta and the country.
Dale Marshall says there was some good, but not enough for the environment in the latest federal government budget.
Listen
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.