Written by the ESG McGill Analyst Team
The Trudeau Federal government announced their 2030 Emissions Reductions program at the end of March. The program covered a broad set of initiatives to reduce Canada’s climate footprint, from carbon capture development and clean energy expansion to zero-emissions vehicles incentives and carbon pricing. The plan also introduced around $9 billion of new investments to carry out these initiatives. This plan builds upon Canada’s commitment last year to reduce carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 based on emissions from 2005. The oil and gas sector accounts for the largest share of planned 2030 emissions reductions, setting a target to lower emissions by 81 million tonnes of CO2e (around 30% of the 2030’s emissions reductions plan). Regarding electric vehicles, the government plans to introduce a mandate to ensure that 20% of new light-vehicle sales in Canada have zero emissions, with a goal of 60% by 2030. Moreover, the plan includes $400 million of funding for EV charging stations across the country and $1.7 billion in incentives for EV affordability. The combined emissions reductions in oil and gas and sizable funding for zero-emissions vehicle initiatives will increase the number of electric vehicles purchased in the next decade. These EV incentives also come conveniently as gas prices continue to climb and vehicle manufacturers increasingly invest in electric vehicle development.
Other critical investments under the plan include expanding the Low Carbon Economy Fund through a 2.2-billion-dollar renewal to leverage climate actions from provinces, municipalities, universities, hospitals, businesses, and NGOs. The government also included significant incentives for green development, such as giving the Canada Greener Homes Loan program $458.5 million and developing the $150-million Canada Green Buildings Strategy, both of which aim to help reduce energy costs for properties and property development. The plan also included a significant Canada’s Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund, which focuses on nature-based solutions to address climate change, like restoring degraded ecosystems. The program, which launched last year, received a commitment of $780 million, on top of the $200 million committed to it when the program began. The plan also includes $2.2 billion to Canada’s Low Carbon Economy Fund supporting GHG emissions reduction projects and $600 million supporting renewable electricity and grid modernization projects. Canada’s plan is similar to many other nations’ recently announced Climate action plans. Although one cannot be sure whether the Trudeau government will fulfill their goals, the recent Liberal-NDP coalition may help ensure these plans are carried out because of the NDP and its leader Jagmeet Singh’s vocal position in favour of climate change action.