Toward a cleaner, greener future

OTTAWA—Since COP1—the first United Nations Climate Change Conference in Berlin back in 1995—the dialogue around our impact on the planet has gradually moved in the right direction, but action hasn’t followed suit. Carbon dioxide emissions released by global fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes have jumped from about 25 billion metric tonnes annually in 1995 to roughly 35 billion metric tonnes by the time of COP26 in Glasgow. When it comes to thinking about addressing climate change in a Canadian context, particularly post-COP26, it’s important to consider who we are from geographic, social, economic, and political/diplomatic perspectives. Geographically, Canadians are blessed far more than most around the planet. Our national motto, ‘A Mari Usque ad Mare’ (from Sea to Sea) may have missed the Arctic Ocean, but it definitely captures the sheer vastness of our country. We are the second-largest country by geographic size, after only Russia. We have the world’s longest coastline, at more than 200,000 kilometres. We share the world’s longest international border, some 9,000 kilometres, with the United States. We are the third most-forested country in the world, with nearly 350 million hectares. We have the fourth largest supply of fresh water in the world, at more than 2,900 cubic kilometres. We are the stewards of all this, and it is in our own self-interest to protect, at a minimum, our piece of the planet. Socially, Indigenous peoples in Canada are on the front line of the impacts of climate change. Remoteness in terms of foodstuffs, health care and emergency response; a lack of infrastructure; reliance on diesel; decreases in ice thickness which create dangers for those on foot and for vehicles; and changes in wildlife habitat—both in water and on land—make Indigenous communities particularly vulnerable. Yet, they can teach us and the world much about responsible stewardship of our land and resources. Economically, climate change is the most daunting challenge of our time, but also a huge opportunity if we respond with innovative policies, embrace new technologies, and don’t lose sight of being competitive. For Canada, a nation equally rich in resources and in talent, we can be a leader in the transition to a net zero future. Energy remains our biggest export earner, and fossil fuels are going to be needed for some time to come. We need a two-track approach to help our fossil fuel industry and its workers transition to a low-carbon future and to grow Canada’s clean energy sector. It’s about sustaining paycheques and sustaining the environment—two things that are increasingly intertwined and primary drivers of living standards. Here, there is great room for cooperation among the federal government, provinces, First Nations, and universities. To move with the needed scale and speed, governments will need to provide the incentives and supportive regulatory environment to hasten the private sector’s adjustment. Politically, besides building a strong public consensus for change and the impacts of those changes, the biggest challenge for the federal government will be working effectively with the provinces. To state the obvious, this will not be easy, but it is necessary given the reality of our federation, and it will require a degree of two-way engagement. At the same time, getting the business sector on the same page is crucial, and this will take equal dollops of policy certainty, assistance, and partnership. Diplomatically, climate change presents more downsides than upside, which is why we must invest heavily in our foreign policy capacity and mobilize like-minded friends in other countries. The American relationship on climate change holds both promise and risk. While Joe Biden is not Donald Trump, his trade policies have Trumpian echoes and there is a lack of coherence to his foreign policy. Protecting American jobs and local self-interest will be powerful forces during the difficult adjustment to net zero, as can be seen by the Biden administration’s proposal to exclude Canadian-made (and Mexican) EVs from purchase incentives offered to Americans. But Biden recognizes there is a climate crisis, and it requires both domestic action and international cooperation. Glasgow achieved about as much as could have been realistically expected. It turned public attention around the world to the issue of climate change, its gravity, and its urgency. The “why” is clear, the focus in every country has to be on the “how” of building a greener, cleaner, and prosperous future. But climate change is an existential global threat, and we can deal with it better, cheaper, and faster by doing it together. Kevin Lynch was clerk of the Privy Council and vice chair of BMO Financial Group. Paul Deegan was a BMO and CN executive and Deputy Executive Director of the White House’s National Economic Council. This piece was adapted from an essay in policymagazine.ca The Hill Times