LASER TALK: Tracking Canada’s Climate Action 2008-2018

Tracking Canada’s Climate Action (2008 – 2018)

The Climate Action Tracker (climateactiontracker.org) provides an independent scientific analysis produced by three research organizations. It tracks  progress towards the globally agreed aim of holding warming well below 2°C, and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. It also ranks  countries on their performance.

The data on Climate Action Tracker from 2011-2015, when Canada was under the Conservatives, show that Canada’s climate targets and actions were in the lowest category alongside the Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia. 

IMAGE SOURCE: CBC News (2014)

According to data from Julie Gelfand, Canada’s Commissioner of Environment and Sustainable Development (a division of Canada’s Auditor General Office), Canada’s emissions would have gone up significantly between 2008-2012 if it were not for the 2008 recession and actions of the provinces.

Between 2015-2016, the Liberal government began intensive consultations for the Pan Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change with the provinces, territories, civil society, businesses, industry and the people of Canada. Canada’s ranking during those years were still at the very bottom. Then in 2017 we bumped into the next category and we are now in the middle of the pack. Meanwhile, for comparison, the USA under Donald Trump has dropped down into the lowest category with the Saudis and Russians.

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