[All] Jan 14 deadline for Canada climate action survey

[Susan Koswan]

Hi GRENers,

I started going through the survey and it's daunting to say the least. 
Below are responses from CAPE's Ontario co-chair to assist. The link she 
included also has short and sweet info if you're time-crunched or if 
it's all just too much.

Susan K


Hello All,

Please take a look at this important Govt of Canada public consultation 
to help shape Canada’s critically important 2030 Emissions Reductions 
Plan to be established by the Minister of Environment and Climate 
Change. The ministry is obligated to consult publicly and to publish a 
response report to submissions after reviewing so a very worthwhile 
endeavour in which to participate.

If you are able, please complete and urgently distribute throughout your 
networks to amplify the response rate.  As it may be a bit 
time-consuming the questions and some sample responses are posted below 
the survey link if anyone wishes to use or build upon to save time.

*Please act soon as survey closes Jan 14 2022 and may be accessed at:*

https://eccc.sondage-survey.ca/f/LanguageSelection.aspx?s=4132165a-69ff-455b-9208-24be193aa656

Thank you
Dr. Mili Roy
Co-chair CAPE Ontario
(Canadian Assn of Physicians for the Environment)


Copy of Survey questions & my sample responses below:
(More detailed extensive supporting submission information may be found 
at: https://link.climatemessengers.ca/consult )


  Engagement on Canada’s 2030 Emission Reduction Plan – Public
  Submission Portal

Q1


    What opportunities do you think the Government of Canada should
    pursue to reduce emissions by 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2030 and
    position Canada to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, including in
    any or all of the following economic sectors? Please elaborate on
    your answers where appropriate, including any specific insights on
    policy opportunities or initiatives.


BUILDINGS:  Stringent new building codes to mandate Net Zero standards. 
  Deep retrofit subsidies to bring existing buildings to new net zero 
standards while creating green employment to do so.  Increase multi-unit 
dwellings & avoid urban sprawl in new builds as per urban design 
principles of population intensification.

ELECTRICITY: Rapid transition off fossil fuels to clean renewable energy 
sources for electricity including rapid complete coal phase-out, 
transition off natural gas and avoid new nuclear energy spending as the 
huge costs of nuclear commitment are better spent on hydro, wind, solar 
options. Also avoid funding blue hydrogen sources.

HEAVY INDUSTRY INCLUDING OIL & GAS: Immediate end to any new oil & gas 
exploration, new project approvals including any further pipeline 
extensions (eg Transmountain, Coastal Gaslink) and oil/gas exports. Stop 
all oil and gas subsidies and re-direct the immense revenues that will 
be liberated into renewable non-greenhouse gas emitting energy sources, 
including just transition for oil & gas workers to new sustainable 
employment.

TRANSPORTATION:  Electrify the entire transportation fleet including 
private, public and commercial vehicles as well as rail systems.  This 
will mean investing in huge expansion of charging infrastructure (= huge 
business + employment opportunities).  Policy makers and public must be 
aware of environmental risks of EV battery production (eg mining rare 
metals) - batteries should preferentially be designated for public modes 
of transport active & in use most of the time (eg bus, train) rather 
than sitting idle (eg private car).

AGRICULTURE:  A large portion of our GHG emissions are generated by 
agriculture, compounded by food waste and meat consumption.  Need a 
broad transition to regenerative farming techniques with Indigenous 
consultation where possible and public education to decrease food waste 
and promote plant-based diets. Other investment to decrease food waste 
such as subsidizing food bank connectivity with food chain suppliers.

NATURE BASED CLIMATE SOLUTIONS:  Enact strong binding legislation 
proofed against future administration/government changes to protect a 
minimum of 30% of all greenspace, wetlands, freshwater and ocean 
reserves. Public education programs re critical importance of threatened 
biodiversity to human survival; the role of greenspace in absorbing 
carbon & role of wetlands in absorbing environmental toxins; role of 
nature in human physical and mental health.

ECONOMY-WIDE:  MUST rapidly enact well-managed broad-based carbon 
pricing.  Educate public and policy makers that carbon pricing with 
revenue properly cycled back to lower emitters (eg families, 
individuals) is the most rapidly effective and lowest cost tool that 
exists to fight climate change.  Combine with subsidizing green 
sustainable innovation, entrepreneurship, finance, education which also 
stimulates green sustainable employment.  Promote circular economy 
principles to reduce waste and carbon intensity of the economy (eg 
manufacturing).

OTHER:  Increase oversight and standardized regulations of Canada’s big 
banks and lending institutions to end non-governmental subsidization of 
heavy GHG emitters.  Simultaneously enact legislation to restrict these 
emitters from turning to private lending/capital

Q2: *What do you see as the barriers or challenges to reducing emissions 
in these sectors? Do you have suggestions on how to overcome these 
barriers?*

Oil & gas sector lobby against emissions reductions.  Politicization of 
issues that are in fact universal and will hurt us all if not tackled.   
Apathy and/or lack of public awareness including amongst leaders and 
policy makers regarding the true urgency and scale of the threats of 
climate crisis and environmental issues facing us all and massive scale 
of rapid transformation needed to address this.  The window of time to 
achieve this is closing but still possible.  Additionally Canada must 
not only meet its own Glasgow target commitments but also advocate 
internationally for countries not meeting targets to do so, including 
supportive financing for developing nations unfairly bearing the brunt 
of the crisis created mainly by affluent countries such as Canada.

Q3:


    What broader economic, technological, or social challenges and
    opportunities do you foresee resulting from efforts to reduce
    emissions in these sectors? For example, opportunities associated
    with economic diversification across sectors. Do you have
    suggestions on how to address these challenges and opportunities?

The economic opportunities are boundless.  It is a matter of 
entrepreneurship, innovative thinking and appropriately diverting start 
up financing and capital with an entirely new mindset to move away from 
polluting, carbon intensive economic activities and redirect to 
exclusively green sustainable activities.  Economists support this as 
the best way forward as the cost of stranded high carbon assets, 
faltering insurability of climate vulnerable activities, and 
skyrocketing direct costs of escalating adverse climate impacts simply 
cannot support sustainable economic prosperity without urgently 
addressing climate change.
      Technology will play an immense role in the massive global 
transformations that must be achieved to secure a livable (near) future, 
in too many ways and too many roles to identify each specifically or 
separately.  It must be acknowledged that the necessary technologies 
particularly to transition our energy systems from fossil fuel based 
(coal, oil, natural gas, etc) to clean renewable sources (wind, solar, 
hydroelectric) are already existing.  Setting a historic precedent just 
recently, a renewable energy source (solar) for the first time in 
history became the cheapest energy source on the planet.  The political 
and public will to make the necessary changes rapidly with existing 
technology is currently the greatest rate limiting step.   Citing a lack 
of currently available technology especially in carbon capture, battery 
or alternative energy storage options, carbon metrics 
calculations/formulae (eg as currently cited by some major Canadian 
banks as a stumbling point to changing lending practices) must not be 
used as justification for any delay in acting.  The window of 
opportunity to act is critically small and actively closing.
      The social challenges to implement the necessary changes will be 
complex and immense especially with the urgent time lines dictated by 
current expert opinion being less than a decade.  Public awareness must 
be part of any plan in order to have buy in.  Broad public education 
campaigns would likely be of value to enhance public co-operation rather 
than opposition.  This could improve the chances of a government 
achieving climate mandates rather than being voted out by a public not 
understanding the threats and solutions.  While the massive societal 
transformations required are a huge opportunity to promote social 
justice and equity, it is well understood the climate crisis 
disproportionately impacts already marginalized and lower socioeconomic 
Canadians and the economic impacts will be very uneven with total 
phase-out of some industries while other sectors boom.  It will be very 
complex and critical to ensure these social and employment impacts are 
modelled in advance and just transition measures in place in a timely 
fashion, such as measures to re-deploy workers from the fossil fuel sector.


    Q4. Looking beyond 2030, what enabling measures, strategies or
    technological pathways do you think the Government of Canada should
    put in place now to ensure that Canada is on track to net-zero
    emissions by 2050?

Multiple suggestions as already discussed previously plus the following:
- ensure definition of "net-zero" is not corruptible to greenwashing (eg 
cannot apply non-existent carbon capture technology or insecure carbon 
credits such as "double-counted" forestation projects which are then 
destroyed by climate change fuelled wildfires, into calculation 
projections) as some emitters are currently doing to avoid actually 
decreasing emissions adequately
- create an absolute body or authority that will be legislated to be 
proofed against dismantling at the whim of a future government to be 
recognized by every Canadian whether general public or policy maker. 
  This body should be multi-partisan to include seats for each political 
party represented in Parliament combined with reserved seats for experts 
(eg climate scientists, economists, urban planners, healthcare experts, 
agricultural experts, energy and transportation experts, etc) plus a 
"citizens' corps" where all concerned Canadians can participate 
virtually in providing input
- mandated periodic transparent widespread public reporting of actual 
emissions, other relevant figures/stats against the context of actual 
targets as set by current criteria of that time period (eg Glasgow pact )


    Q5. What broader economic, technological, or social issues to you
    foresee as a result of the transition to a net-zero economy in
    Canada? Do you have suggestions on how to address these issues?

If we achieve our targets and goals properly this would be our chance at 
a secure livable future with peace and prosperity with better 
socioeconomic equity.  This would represent hope for ourselves and the 
critical right to a secure life for our children and future generations. 
  However it will not be enough to achieve these goals in Canada, we 
must do our share to contribute climate financing to developing nations 
damaged by climate change created by wealthy countries such as Canada. 
  We must also negotiate internationally with affluent polluting nations 
to ensure GHG emissions are reduced globally in order to be effective.
      The bigger question is the forseeable future if we do not achieve 
our targets nationally and globally.  The planet's greatest authorities 
on this including the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) 
have made it starkly clear that if we fail, we face uncontrolled climate 
collapse in our lifetimes and beyond that will irrevocably alter human 
life on Earth with unimaginable suffering, violence and unrest, food 
insecurity, displacement and loss of life in the midst of which we will 
longer have any choice or ability to act.  Our only time to act is now.
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