A re-elected Liberal government would immediately commit Canada to becoming carbon neutral by mid-century, said Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau Tuesday, echoing pledges made a day earlier by the European Union and more than 60 countries at the United Nations Climate Action Summit.
“This will be a huge opportunity for Canadians,” Trudeau said at a campaign event in British Columbia.
“It’ll require us to slash our emissions, transform our economy, and use the power of nature – like planting trees and protecting ecosystems – to bring us to net-zero. It’s an ambitious target, but it’s doable.”
Trudeau said the Liberals would halve the corporate tax rate for companies that develop or manufacture products with zero emissions.
Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Justin Trudeau speaks during his visit to Nano One Materials in Burnaby, B.C. on Tuesday Sept. 24, 2019. (Ryan Remiorz/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Eligible sectors could include manufacturing related to renewable energy, production of renewable fuels, zero emission vehicles and batteries for them, carbon capture and removal technology and electric vehicle charging systems.
There is no time to waste to tackle “the most fundamental challenge of our generation,” Trudeau said.
“It will take courage and planning, grassroots leadership and government investment,” Trudeau said. “But if we mitigate and adapt, we can win the fight against climate change.”
Canadians have no choice but lead the fight against climate change because Canada is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, Trudeau said.
“Years from now I want to look my kids in the eyes and say, ‘We stepped up in the fight against climate change,’” Trudeau said.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh chats with young supporters during a campaign stop at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. (Andrew Vaughan/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
The New Democratic Party said its climate action plan will be focused on helping communities most impacted by climate change, including partnering with Indigenous people, ensuring they have a decision-making seat on climate change policies.
“We believe that we have to take action now, we are committed to moving away from fossil fuels,” NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told his supporters in Winnipeg, Manitoba. “We know the future for our country and for the world is a future where we are not burning any carbon for fuel.”
Singh said the NDP’s $15-billion climate plan would meet the targets laid out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), limiting global warming to 1.5 Celsius.
Federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer makes a campaign stop in Thorold, Ontario, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. (Nathan Denette/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Campaigning in St. Catharines, Ontario, Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer said his party was committed to meeting Canada’s obligations under the Paris Agreement but offered few details on how he plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“Under Justin Trudeau we’re falling further and further behind and I do not understand why he is still going all in on a carbon tax that has been proven to fail,” said Scheer, who released the Conservative climate plan in June.
Green Party of Canada Leader Elizabeth May speaks in Toronto prior to a fireside chat about the climate, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019. (Cole Burston/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
The Green Party’s climate plan, which was released in May, targets 60 per cent GHG reductions against 2005 levels by 2030 and zero emissions by 2050.
The Greens call for modernizing the electricity grid across the country, making it possible to distribute renewable energy from one province to province. The party also calls for retrofitting every building in Canada and ending all imports of foreign oil.
With files from The Canadian Press and CBC News
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