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Appendix D. Climate Action at All Levels
Indicators
17. # of participants at building community & citizen educational events / workshops High participation levels at events Registration/Attendee lists for events
Measures of Success Data Sources
Global Action When Canada signed the Paris Agreement in 2015, we joined a global commitment to keep global warming below 2°C, and as close to 1.5°C as possible. In October 2018, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a major report that emphasized the dramatic difference in consequences between a 1.5°C and 2°C world. Every degree of warming beyond this threshold will lead to increased impacts of extreme weather, more wildfires and floods, increases in sealevel rise, and severe threats to human health and well-being.
By limiting these impacts, we can ensure a healthy environment, economy and society for ourselves and future generations. While it is not too late, time is of the essence.
The key finding of the IPCC report is that limiting warming to 1.5°C is possible, but requires deep emissions reductions across all areas of society – reducing global emissions by 45% from 2010 levels by 2030 and reaching net zero emissions by 2050.
National Action In 2016, the Government of Canada released its Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. The framework sets out the federal government’s strategy to meet its commitment under the Paris Agreement to reduce national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 30% below 2005 levels by the year 2030. In 2017, the most recent emissions inventory year, Canada’s emissions were 716 megatonnes of CO2 equivalent (Mt CO2e), which is a 2% decrease from 2005 levels. This means that in order for Canada to meet its emissions reduction target, we need a decrease of 28% from 2005 levels in just ten years. More recently, the Government of Canada has established a target of net-zero emissions by 2050, requiring an acceleration of action by all levels of government.
Actions available to the federal government include vehicle fuel-efficiency standards, model national building codes, energy ratings, and carbon pricing.
