OTTAWA — A secret report from a committee of federal deputy ministers stresses the need for the federal government to further combat climate change and manage the risks that threaten Canadian communities, government infrastructure, food security and human health.
The report from the Deputy Ministers’ Committee on Climate Change, Energy and the Environment to the Clerk of the Privy Council Wayne Wouters also identifies priority areas for potential “government intervention” on energy and environmental innovation, including taking action on unconventional oil and gas, water and next-generation transportation.
Wayne Wouters, Clerk of the Privy Council, is receiving the highest honour from United Way Canada for his commitment to philanthropy.. (Leslie Schachter/Ottawa Citizen)
The briefing materials shed some intriguing light on what’s unfolding within the government on how Canada should both mitigate and respond to climate change, and which emerging energy and environmental industries Ottawa may financially support in the future.
The documents also raise more questions on why the Conservatives have hesitated to introduce long-awaited greenhouse gas regulations for the oil and gas industry, when even the most senior federal bureaucrats are flagging concerns about climate change and challenges in tackling GHGs in the energy sector.
The August 2013 documents — labelled “SECRET” — identify that Canada, which is already slowly drifting away from meeting its 2020 target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, “will likely face significant challenges to mitigate GHG emissions beyond 2020” given its energy intensive and export-oriented economy. Deep, long-term emissions reductions for Canada will require transformational clean technology innovation, the report says.
A wide range of climate-change impacts are being felt across Canada, the report says, including disappearing Arctic sea ice, thawing permafrost, rising sea levels, and increased risks of severe weather, and “it is likely that these conditions will be exacerbated as the climate continues to change in the future.”
“These impacts pose increasing risks to infrastructure, water quality and quantity, coastal communities, natural resource industries, food security, human health and safety, and wildlife,” the report says.
Specifically, the report notes more work is necessary to address potentially “significant risks” to some or many of the federal government’s $65 billion in assets — such as roads and airports in the North susceptible to thawing permafrost — as well as the ability of federal departments and agencies to effectively deliver programs and services.
“The capacity of Canadians, communities, and institutions to successfully adapt to a changing climate is a challenge that is only expected to grow in the coming years. With the understanding that climate change impacts have already resulted in significant costs to government and will likely continue to do so, planning ahead for climate impacts would be responsible risk management,” it adds.
The report to Wouters, the top bureaucrat in the country who directly advises Prime Minister Stephen Harper, was obtained by Postmedia News under access-to-information legislation.
The documents highlight a number of risks and costs already being felt by the government, Canadian taxpayers and the environment.
Warmer winters are a key factor in the severity of the mountain pine beetle outbreak that has devastated more than 18 million hectares of Canadian forest, and extreme weather events that used to happen every 40 years are now expected every six years.
Moreover, billions of dollars in emergency financial aid have been paid out to farmers in recent years due to hail, droughts and flooding, with Ottawa committing billions more to help with recovery costs from floods that ravaged southern Alberta in 2013.
The deputy ministers’ report clearly links Canada’s future economic prosperity to the environment and climate change policy. Yet, the Conservative government last year eliminated the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, the federal agency tasked with examining the two issues together.
The federal Conservative government has repeatedly promised to introduce greenhouse gas regulations for the oil and gas industry, but those standards — years in the making — have been repeatedly delayed by Harper and successive environment ministers.
The Alberta oilsands are the fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.
Paul Boothe, a former deputy minister of the environment in the Conservative government and now director of Western University’s Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management, said the deputy ministers’ report is one piece of the puzzle that contributes to government policy decisions.
“The government adds in their political calculus on this stuff and then comes to a decision,” Boothe said. “Even if these deputy discussions become policy advice, and they don’t always, then layered on top of that is the sort of political advice that is based on what ministers know and what their political staff are telling them.”
However, he said it’s in both Canada’s economic and environmental interests to move forward with greenhouse regulations for the energy sector. Taking “real action” on climate change will make it easier for Canada to sell its oil and gas internationally, he said.
The deputy ministers’ report notes that energy and environmental innovation is key to Canada’s future prosperity. It highlights research conducted for the federal government by consulting firm McKinsey and Company that says Canada has an enormous opportunity to capture a larger share of growing global demand for energy and energy technologies.
The consulting work identified priority areas for “government intervention” — which could include direct financial help or tax incentives — including next generation auto and advanced trains and jets; “water”; energy efficient buildings; bioenergy; unconventional hydro; and unconventional oil and gas.
The McKinsey and Company analysis projected that fully capitalizing on growing markets for energy and energy technologies could mean an extra $74 billion in Canada’s real gross domestic product and up to 500,000 additional Canadian jobs by 2020 (although the government acknowledges the estimate is on the optimistic side).
