Exploration of Two Canadian Greenhouse Gas Emissions Targets: 25% Below 1990 and 20% Below 2006 Levels by 2020
Published by:
David Suzuki Foundation and partners
Authored by:
Matthew Bramley,
Pierre Sadik,
Dale Marshall
Partners:
Pembina Institute
Climate solutions greenhouse gas emissions, policy and regulation, decarbonization, economics, climate change
After years of fits and starts, Canada again finds itself at a crossroads regarding the economy and climate change and how the two will intersect in the period leading up to 2020. With the Copenhagen negotiations about to commence, and with the process of establishing meaningful climate policies well underway for our major trading partner to the south, a study was released in an effort to elevate the debate around the economy and climate to a higher level.
To that end the David Suzuki Foundation and the Pembina Institute, with financial support from TD Bank, decided to seek some credible answers to a set of important questions that have left a substantial gap in the Canadian climate/economy policy debate. Pembina and DSF wanted to answer some hard questions for themselves, and for the public, and begin bringing Canadians around to the fact that reducing the carbon intensity of Canada’s economy will take more than changing light bulbs.
The leading economic modelling firm of Mark Jaccard and Associates was retained and an advisory committee comprising senior bank economists, federal government and NRTEE officials, and others helped guide the study. Ultimately, the analysis brought forth credible and conclusive answers to how Canada’s economy would fare in the face of a science-based emission reduction target by 2020.