15 February 2018
Ontario Commissioner Reports Reduced GHG Emissions
UN Photo/R Marklin
story highlights

The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario reviews the government’s progress in reducing GHG emissions in 2016-2017.

The report discusses Ontario’s policies and programmes since the release of the climate change action plan in 2016; the national and international context for Ontario’s climate policy; carbon offsets; spending from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Account (GGRA); climate change across the Government; low-carbon procurement; climate change impacts; and “talking with Ontarians about climate change”.

30 January 2018: The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO) has released the 2017 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Progress Report, showing that Ontario’s GHG emissions have dropped to the lowest level since reporting began in 1990, while gross domestic product (GDP) and population have continued to grow. The ECO is an independent, environmental watchdog for the province of Ontario.

Titled ‘Ontario’s Climate Act: From Plan to Progress,’ the report is an “independent, non-partisan review” of the Ontario government’s progress in reducing GHG emissions for 2016-2017. After its issuance by Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO) Dianne Saxe, in January 2018, the report was transmitted to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario (Parliament) for consideration.

The report discusses, inter alia: Ontario’s emissions in 2015; Ontario’s policies and programmes since the release of the climate change action plan in 2016; the national and international context for Ontario’s climate policy; carbon offsets; spending from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Account (GGRA); climate change across the Government; low-carbon procurement; climate change impacts; and “talking with Ontarians about climate change.”

In her introduction letter, the Commissioner writes that Ontario can be proud of its “significant progress” on climate change policy, and on reducing Ontario’s GHG emissions. The report indicates that since the Ontario government released its Climate Change Action Plan in 2016, the province has introduced dozens of additional policies and programs to reduce emissions from buildings, waste, transportation, and land use, among other areas. It has also put a cap and a price on Ontario’s GHG emissions through a carbon market (cap and trade program) that began 1 January 2017, and has announced the cap on future GHG emissions for every year until 2030.

Also on emissions, the report indicates that emissions from the transportation sector, especially trucking, keep increasing. It says that some Ontario government policies, such as subsidies for natural gas trucking, are unlikely to reduce emissions, and calls on the government to encourage the freight sector to avoid trucking where possible, improve diesel truck efficiency, and shift freight away from fossil fuels.

Ontario’s fiscal policy continues to undermine its climate policy through fossil fuel subsidies.

On consideration of climate change, the report says that some Ontario government ministries are taking climate change seriously. For example, climate change was included in Ontario’s Long-Term Infrastructure Plan 2017, the Building Code was improved, municipalities were empowered to adopt climate change by-laws, and the government “has made some efforts on green procurement. However, the government “has a blind spot” for many of its own emissions, it says, as it “funds projects that worsen urban sprawl.” It also adopted a Long-Term Energy Plan that will not take Ontario to its climate targets, and its fiscal policy continues to undermine its climate policy through fossil fuel subsidies. The report therefore recommends that the government insist on knowing the GHG footprint of what it buys, set an emission-reduction target for its purchases, and give GHG footprint significant weight in procurement decisions. The Ontario government buys, on average, more than $10 billion dollars of goods, services and infrastructure every year, and is a critical early market for low-carbon innovations, according to the report.

On proceeds from Ontario’s cap and trade programme, the report indicates that 99% of the $1.4 billion allocated through Greenhouse Gas Reduction Account (GGRA) was in accordance with the Climate Act. The GGRA receives proceeds from Ontario’s cap and trade programme to implement its Climate Change Action Plan, and initiatives that can be funded from the account must reduce or support the reduction of GHGs. [Publication: Ontario’s Climate Act: From Plan to Progress. Annual Greenhouse Gas Progress Report 2017] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on Canada’s implementation of its national carbon Pricing strategy] [Ontario’s Five Year Climate Change Action Plan 2016-2020] [ECO Website]

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