Based on a posting by Robyn Gray and Christina Marciano, Sussex Strategy Group
The Ontario government released its much anticipated Five-Year Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) on June 8. The Action Plan is the most visible element of an ambitious three-part initiative on climate change from the government of Ontario. The three parts are:
1. The Climate Change Mitigation and Low-Carbon Economy Act, Bill 172, passed May 18,
2. The Cap and Trade program, implemented by Ontario Regulation 144/16, published May 19, 2016, and
3. The Climate Change Action plan, announced June 8.
The CCAP is designed as a comprehensive package of policies and programs to help business and individuals transition to a low-carbon economy. Enabled by the legislation and the cap-and-trade program, the Action Plan outlines specific programs and initiatives that could total $8.3 billion over five years, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 9.8 million tonnes by 2020.
The Five-Year Action Plan is meant to outline how the government intends to achieve Ontario’s greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2020 and 2030. These targets are as follows:
• 2020: A GHG emissions reduction of 15% below 1990 levels – a reduction of 19 megatonnes
• 2030: A GHG emissions reduction of 37% below 1990 levels – an additional reduction of 62 megatonnes.
The programs and initiatives outlined in the Action Plan are to be funded through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Account (GGRA), which will hold the proceeds generated through the Ontario Cap and Trade Program. The Cap and Trade Program will begin in January 2017. The Act also stipulates that spending of the GGRA must go towards initiatives that are intended to reduce or support the reduction of GHGs.
Some initiatives have already been announced as part of the $325M Green Investment Fund (GIF), which was essentially a down payment on proceeds from the cap and trade program.
The programs and initiatives are categorized in the following eight Action Areas:
1. Transportation
2. Buildings and Homes
3. Land-Use Planning
4. Industry and Business
5. Collaboration with Indigenous Communities
6. Research and Development
7. Government
8. Agriculture, Forests and Lands
The Green Bank
To assist in technology deployment a low-carbon service provider and financing entity called the Green Bank will be created. The Green Bank will be utilized “to deploy and finance readily available low-carbon energy technologies to reduce carbon pollution from Ontario buildings.” The Green Bank will be based on two existing best practice models: Efficiency Vermont and the New York Green Bank.
It will assist in helping households and businesses understand what government grants and incentives are available; assist in securing households with flexible low-interest financing for GHG reducing improvements; and support large commercial and industrial projects. The government will be consulting stakeholders regarding the development of the Green Bank.
A summary of Action Areas featured in the Plan with anticipated funding allocation over the 5-year period is shown in the sidebar below. A more detailed report is available from the Sussex Strategy Group website at http://sussex-strategy.com/posts/overview-of-ontarios-climate-change-action-plan, or from the online resources below. The Plan also features projected start dates (by year), as well as some estimated GHG reduction estimates by program.
The full Climate Change Action Plan is available on the Ontario government website at this location: https://www.ontario.ca/page/climate-change-action-plan.
The Minister of Environment and Climate Change recently announced that consultation on the post-2020 cap and trade program design would begin in August 2016.
For additional information, readers may wish to visit the following resources on APPrO websites: https://www.appro.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=141&Itemid=177.
• APPrO’s online repository of design documents, reference material and links to official publications on the design of Ontario’s system: www.appro.org/capandtrade16.
Articles from APPrO’s magazine, IPPSO FACTO:
• Ontario adopts ambitious climate strategy, https://magazine.appro.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4375&Itemid=60, June 2016.
• Key principles identified for cap-and-trade, https://magazine.appro.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4303&Itemid=60, April 2016.
• Overview of Ontario’s proposed Cap & Trade Bill 172, https://magazine.appro.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4304&Itemid=60, April 2016.
Key elements of the Climate Change Action Plan
| CGRA funding (5 years) | $million |
| Increase the availability and use of lower-carbon fuel | $115 – 175 |
| Increase use of electric vehicles | $246 – 277 |
| Support cycling and walking | $150 – 225 |
| Increase use of Low-carbon trucks and buses | $215 – 290 |
| Support the accelerate construction of GO Regional Express rail | $355 – 675 |
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| Improve energy efficiency in multi-tenant residential buildings | $680 – 900 |
| Improve energy efficiency in schools and hospitals | $400 – 800 |
| Reduce emissions from heritage buildings | $ 40 – 80 |
| Help homeowners reduce carbon footprint | $681 – 824 |
| Set lower carbon standards for new buildings | – |
| Promote low-carbon energy supply and products | $ 60 – 100 |
| Help individuals manage their energy use | $200 – 250 |
| Training, workforce and technical capacity | $ 45 – 70 |
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| Strengthen climate change policies in the municipal land use planning process | – |
| Support municipal and other stakeholder climate action | $270 – 325 |
| Reduce congestion and improve economic productivity | $ 10 – 20 |
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| Help industries adopt low-carbon technologies | $875 – 1100 |
| Help the agri-food sector adopt low-carbon technologies | $ 50 – 115 |
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| Collaborate with indigenous communities (including transition to non-fossil energy and connecting to grid) | $ 85 – 96 |
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| Support innovation and commercialization of new low-carbon technologies | $140 – 235 |
| Set tax and regulatory policies that encourage innovations | $ 0 – 1 |
| Support R&D through a Global Centre for Low-Carbon Mobility | $100 – 140 |
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| Reduce emission and energy costs across government | $165 – 175 |
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| Reduce emissions from waste and move towards a circular economy | $ 20 – 30 |
| Increase understanding of how lands emit and store carbon | $ 2 – 3 |
| Maximize carbon storage from agriculture | $ 30 |
| Understand and enhance carbon storage in natural systems | $500 – 1500 |
| Update Environmental Assessment to account for Climate Change | –- |
For the full Ontario Climate Change Action Plan see: https://www.ontario.ca/page/climate-change-action-plan