At a meeting in Brudenell, Prince Edward Island September 11, federal, provincial and territorial environment ministers agreed that climate change will be on the agenda for the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME). In particular, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris will be the topic of their meeting in 2015. After 2015, Ministers, in collaboration with senior officials, will determine the topic for the following years.
A raft of environmental organizations has been consistently critical of progress, at least at the federal level, toward greenhouse gas reduction. The fall 2014 report by the federal government’s own Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development found that, if present trends continue, by 2020 greenhouse gas emissions output will remain virtually unchanged at 734 megatons, compared to 2005 levels of 736 megatons.
Some progress has been made, says Commissioner Michael Ferguson, and there are noteworthy initiatives, such as work with the province of Alberta to lay the groundwork for more comprehensive monitoring of the environmental effects of oil sands development. However he acknowledges, “there is still work to be done.”
As one example among many of the alternative perspectives on offer, the Trottier Energy Futures Project’s Inventory of Low-Carbon Energy for Canada at www.trottierenergyfutures.ca/, says that supplies of sustainable, low-carbon energy will be more than enough to meet Canada’s needs through 2050.
Ministers also adopted a vision for waste management in Canada and committed to take action in their respective jurisdictions on waste. In keeping with the vision, ministers approved an initiative to develop tools and best practices that can reduce and divert waste in the institutional, commercial and industrial (ICI) sectors, construction, renovation and demolition (CRD) waste, and organic waste.
“While we have made progress on waste management in Canada over the last several years, we must do better,” said Janice Sherry, PEI’s Minister of Environment, Labour and Justice. “The vision we have adopted today is to make Canada a world leader in waste management.”
Ministers adopted four key objectives:
• Improving Canada’s recycling rates and reducing the amount of waste created;
• Developing tools for environmentally-sound waste management in Canada;
• Changing producer and consumer behavior; and
• Addressing the challenges faced by remote and northern communities in managing waste.
Manitoba will host the next meeting of the CCME.