Province charts course to cut pollution and grow the clean economy
TORONTO—The Government of Ontario today released its Five Year Climate Action Plan, which outlines 28 key initiatives to help the province meet its carbon pollution reduction targets. These initiatives include the establishment of a ‘green bank’, a low-carbon fuel standard and support for clean technologies.
QUOTES
“It’s easy to set climate targets, but much more difficult to meet them. Today the Ontario government delivered a strong climate action plan that will put the province on track to meet its targets, while growing the economy. It’s a good plan and Ontario should be commended for its leadership.
“Ontario took the most important step in building a low-carbon economy when it put a price on carbon pollution. The province’s new climate action plan takes the necessary second step: tackling carbon pollution that isn’t covered by the cap-and-trade program through additional measures, and spurring the growth of the province’s clean energy technology sector.
“Ontario’s ‘green bank’ proposal would make revenue from cap-and-trade available to support the development of transformative clean energy technologies. This approach will advance innovation and help households and industry reduce carbon pollution more affordably, while minimizing risks to taxpayers.”
— Sarah Petrevan, Senior Policy Advisor, Clean Energy Canada
KEY FACTS
- Ontario’s legislated climate reduction targets are: 15 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, 37 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030, and 80 per cent by 2050 (Source: Government of Ontario)
- Bill 172, the Climate Change Mitigation and Low-carbon Economy Act, 2016, received royal assent on May 18, establishing a cap-and-trade system to curb industrial emissions (Source: Legislative Assembly of Ontario
- Ontario produced 170.2 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2014, 23 per cent of Canada’s total emissions (Source: Environment Canada)
