Canadian Coalitions’ Election Platforms Call for Faster Action on Climate – The Energy Mix

With national elections in Canada just 5½ months away, three different coalitions are out with non-partisan campaign platforms aimed at propelling all the federal parties toward faster, more ambitious action on climate change.

On Monday, a wide coalition of youth, artists, workers, Indigenous peoples, scientists, faith leaders, more than 60 organizations, and 50 prominent Canadians launched the Pact for a Green New Deal, a call for the country to halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Along the way, the groups are urging political leaders to “protect critical cultural and biological diversity, create a million jobs, and address the multiple crises we face through a holistic and far-reaching plan that respects the constitutionally enshrined and internationally-recognized rights of Indigenous peoples.”

On Tuesday, 14 of the country’s leading environmental organizations released a joint, 20-point platform calling on parties to commit to a 1.5°C threshold for average global warming, set legislated climate targets with a baked-in accountability mechanism, conduct a full review of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, and place a moratorium on oil and gas exploration and development in the environmentally fragile Gulf of St. Lawrence. The statement also addresses carbon pricing, zero-emission vehicle and net zero housing targets, and a series of targets for biodiversity, healthy communities, single-use plastics, and introduction of a federal environmental bill of rights.

Read More: https://theenergymix.com/2019/05/07/canadian-coalitions-election-platforms-call-for-faster-action-on-climate/