Blog by Karl Tulio
Canada is at a pivotal moment in its climate action journey, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. To set the 2035 emissions reduction target, as part of the Canadian Net-Zero Accountability Act, the federal government has initiated a public consultation process to gather input from people across the country. Predictably, the effort to popularize this process has been minimal at best. For those that did engage, the survey has been confusing and evidently biased towards taking minimal action on climate policy.
While we recognize that the science behind climate action should not be up for debate, we also recognize that we need to take every opportunity to make our voices heard. Big Oil and their allies have been flooding this consultation process, in an attempt to sabotage progress on climate action. With this in mind, we hosted an Action Call on February 29 where people from across Canada took collective action to make sure the government hears our calls for bold action.
If you’re ready to take action too, here’s what you can do:
Step 1 – Participate: Sign up and participate in the survey.
Check out this Fact Sheet that we’ve prepared as a guide for helping you participate!
The survey will ask you a range of questions covering everything from public perception of climate action to the roles of the different parts of our society in fighting the crisis. Note that the answers you submit will be used to create models that show how the population responds to policies from the government.
In approaching these questions, always keep in mind how your answers could be used by the government in justifying their choices. When in doubt, go for the most ambitious choices that emphasize that the government must follow the science and act in line with the urgency of the climate crisis.
Step 2 – Raise a united voice for bold climate action:
We know that science-based targets are clear and fact-based, they don’t need to be crowd sourced. This process shouldn’t exist but now that it does, the portal is being inundated by Big Oil advocates who want to slow down climate action so that industry won’t suffer. That’s why we’re encouraging people to participate and raise a clear, unified voice for climate ambition. Here are some facts and resources to help you participate in this process.
- Canada’s fair share – our 2030 target should be a 60% reduction in emissions (from 2005 levels) by 2030. The government’s current reported trajectory aims to meet only a 40% reduction.
- We can and should spend what it takes to phase out fossil fuels and transition to 100% renewable energy!
- Net-zero is code for keeping up the status quo. Net-zero operates on the premise that we can stave off the effects of climate change if we can offset our emissions via risky, unproven technologies such as CCS (Carbon capture and storage).
Beware: many of the questions are framed in a way that forces dichotomies between different issues.
Step 3: Complete the survey, let us know how it went, and spread the word:
Once you’ve completed the survey, complete this feedback form to let us know how it went.
The government’s deadline for this process is on March 28, 2024 so make sure to tell your friends and family to participate as well! We have less than a month to turn the tide and force the government to tackle the climate crisis properly so let’s make sure we all do our part!