Rose pursuant to notice of February 4, 2020:

That she will call the attention of the Senate to the importance of finding the right pathways and actions for Canada and Canadians to meet our net-zero carbon emissions targets in order to slow, arrest and reverse human-caused climate change to ensure a healthy planet, society, economy and democracy.

She said: Honourable colleagues, I rise today in a spirit of openness and a sense of urgency to launch a Senate inquiry into finding the right pathways and actions for Canada and Canadians to meet our net-zero carbon and other greenhouse gas targets in order to slow, arrest and hopefully reverse human-caused climate change to ensure a healthy planet, a healthy society, a healthy economy and a healthy democracy.

Réchauffement de la planète, greenhouse effect, climate change, climate crisis, climate catastrophe, Anthropocene extinction — no matter what we call it, the din of the headlines is getting louder every day.

New York Times: “Climate Change Is Accelerating, Bringing World ‘Dangerously Close’ to Irreversible Change.”

CTV News: “Ottawa River flooding the top weather story of 2019.”

Toronto Star: “Beyond Frozen.” Nature’s freezer is heating up and it’s wreaking havoc in Canada’s North.

Finance Post: “Global warming could render the assets of many financial companies worthless, Mark Carney warns.”

The Hill Times: “The ugly side of climate change denial may lead to violence.”

Calgary Sun: “. . . ‘back off’ . . . .”

Calgary Herald: “Take a deep breath. Oil and gas fairies aren’t coming back.”

Global News: “How Alberta’s oil and gas sector is using technology to fight climate change.”

Le Devoir: “Le Canada sur la voie de l’échec climatique.”

The Globe and Mail: “Climate change is the world’s biggest risk, survey of political, business leaders say;” and “Climate change might mean Miami’s 11th Super Bowl is its last.”

The Guardian: “Katharine Hayhoe: ’A thermometer is not liberal or conservative’.”

Honourable colleagues, as we start this Forty-third Parliament and this critical new decade, we, the Senate of Canada, have a tremendous opportunity to take a leadership role in examining and influencing action on the defining issue of this century: climate change.

We represent our respective regions, and we have a duty to serve the public good of all Canadians. As senators, we can be less partisan and balanced in our work. We have the good fortune of being able to take a long-term perspective on controversial issues due to the stability of our chamber through election cycles.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I listened to former Governor General David Johnston speak to parliamentarians about our shared responsibility as builders of trust in our democratic institutions. He referred to trust as the glue and grease in our society. In that vein, he reminded us that a large majority of Canadians voted in the recent federal election for strong action on climate change.

Honourable colleagues, today I hope to have an open discussion about what we have to offer as a nation, as Canadians and as citizens of the world to honour the commitments made by Canada and to help our global neighbours reach their net-zero emission targets and other targets related to greenhouse gas emissions.

My intention is to touch briefly upon what Canada has actually committed to, provide background on those commitments, highlight climate change impacts and consequences, identify solutions and suggest how we could proceed toward making the necessary and complex choices our commitments will require of us.

First, let’s look at what Canada has committed to. At the COP25 meetings in Madrid in December 2019, Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson pledged that Canada would introduce net-zero-by-2050 legislation, with legislated milestones every five years paired with a just transition act. He also promised to not only meet our 2015 Paris agreement target but to exceed it. Canada is also committed to reduce GHG emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

Although we’ve known about human-caused climate change for some time, concrete global action really just began in 1988 with the creation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or the IPCC. In 1994 was created the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In that framework, governments agreed “. . . to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere ’at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human induced) interference with the climate system.’”

In 1995, the first Conference of the Parties met in Berlin, followed by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the first greenhouse gas emissions-reduction treaty, which came into force in 2005. This protocol recognized that countries that had gone through industrialization earlier were responsible for the rise in GHG emissions and it therefore placed a heavier burden of “differentiated responsibilities” on those countries, including Canada.

A 2018 IPCC report stated that, to have a 50 per cent chance of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, carbon dioxide emissions should reach net zero by 2050, with emissions of other greenhouse gases tightly constrained as well.

In September 2015, Canada adopted the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including Goal 13: “Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.” The 2030 Agenda also importantly links the impacts of climate change with inequality and poverty.

So why are things heating up now?

Global warming at higher levels and rates is occurring because the more carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions we emit, the more they build up in the atmosphere and they trap more of the heat that radiates from the Earth’s surface as it absorbs sunlight. With the overall warming trend, we are seeing far more catastrophic weather events.

In his presentation, “The Cost of Inaction: Climate Change Globally and in Canada,” Craig Stewart, the Vice-President of Federal Affairs of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, stated that approximately 1 million homes, or 10 per cent of all residences in Canada, are at risk of flooding. Severe weather in Canada cost $1.3 billion in insured damages last year. In a Global News interview, Mr. Stewart said:

In terms of the number of events and the severity of the events, there’s no doubt that climate change is causing an increase in severe weather across Canada.

Hotter oceans and atmosphere lead to more severe storms and disrupt the water cycle, meaning more floods, droughts and wildfires, as well as a rise in sea levels predicted to be most extreme on Canada’s eastern and northern coasts. Loss in biodiversity is another serious consequence.

Canada is an Arctic nation, and much of the Arctic is Indigenous land. The Arctic is warming at two to three times faster than anywhere else on the planet, causing a loss of 40 per cent of ice coverage in the last 40 years. The Arctic is the Earth’s air conditioner. Arctic ice and snow reflect about 80 per cent of the sun’s radiation, but due to melting, the resultant dark water only reflects 20 per cent.

Similarly, the melting of permafrost causes the release of methane, methane gas traps even more heat than carbon dioxide. With that loss of ice and permafrost, there is a dramatic change in wildlife and fish habitat and damage to buildings, critical infrastructure and people’s livelihoods.

Of course there are direct and indirect costs, the costs of mitigation and the costs of adaptation linked to all the devastating consequences of climate change for the environment.

Canada has 0.48 per cent of the world’s population and we are responsible for 1.6 per cent of the world’s annual emissions. Each Canadian produces 22 tonnes of GHGs per year — three times the G20 average. Forty-five per cent of our emissions are from burning fuel to generate energy for industry, or heat and electricity for our homes and public buildings, 28 per cent from transportation: 8.4 per cent from agriculture; 7.8 per cent from flaring, unintentional emission and leaks; 7.5 per cent from industrial processes and product use; and 2.6 per cent from garbage and waste water. Energy-related sources account for 81.8 per cent of Canadian emissions. It should be noted that we do not have Canadian numbers for emissions caused by the destruction of nature, but the IPCC estimates them to be 23 per cent globally.

Colleagues, we know what the impacts of climate change are, we know the sources of Canada’s emissions, we know our target is to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. We know that governments, at all levels, citizens, civil society organizations and businesses are taking actions to arrest climate change. Our youth are important change leaders, like Autumn Peltier, Wikwemikong water protector, and Rylan Urban, Pembina Institute award-winning founder of energyhub.org.

According to the IPCC, we have 10 years to quickly steer ourselves onto the right pathways. In order to do this, we will need everyone on board moving in the same direction. We need to be bold, smart, innovative, wise, fair, inclusive and collaborative.

We have many resources to draw from. The Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, which has a large focus on carbon pricing. We have Charting our Course, Bringing clarity to Canada’s climate policy choices on the journey to 2050, by the newly minted Canadian Institute for Climate Choices.

We have the Climate Action Network’s initiative known as Getting Real about Canada’s Climate Action.

We have Mark Jaccard’s new Climate Emergency: The Citizen’s Guide to Climate Success, and many others. We need to be able to imagine what a successful economy with low or no GHG emissions looks like.

Glen Hodgson, former chief economist with the Conference Board of Canada, identifies three main areas for action. First, produce and use energy with low or no GHG emissions, phasing out energy produced by combusting coal, oil and gas, and focus on electrification fuelled by renewables. Second, reposition investment priorities towards the green economy. Third, refocus expertise, knowledge and skills of the workforce towards electrification of the economy and on redesigning and producing products, services, built structures and communities that result in low or no GHG emissions.

Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, talks of the need for significant government investment and policy leadership, as well as change driven by financial markets. He talks about a just transition from brown to green for Canada’s economy, using the ingenuity of Canadians and supporting the Canadian financial system to lead the way.

The World Wildlife Fund of Canada makes a strong case for investing in nature-based solutions, which have the power to deliver 30 per cent of global emission reduction targets. This would involve stopping further destruction of our natural carbon sinks, stewarding what we have and restoring the lost ones.

David Victor, chair of the Global Agenda Council on Governance for Sustainability at the World Economic Forum says that:

Decarbonization requires a string of technological revolutions in each of the major emitting sectors. We count 10 sectors that matter most, including electricity generation, cars, buildings, shipping, agriculture, aviation, and steel. These 10 sectors account for about 80 per cent of world emissions.

In addition to the significant technical, financial sector, consumer, conservation, and labour force changes, our transition will require reconciliation with our Indigenous neighbours, international collaboration on solutions and supports, and most of all, it will require collective societal will and courageous political leadership.

According to Texas Tech University’s Katharine Hayhoe, we need to come to that tipping point where people realize that climate impacts do pose a far higher threat than the solutions. Our challenge is getting to that tipping point in opinion and motivation well before the natural tipping point of no return.

In the December Speech from the Throne, Governor General Julie Payette said:

Canada’s children and grandchildren will judge this generation by its action – or inaction – on . . . climate change.

Colleagues, let us be inspired by the wise Iroquoian principle that decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future. My hope is that this inquiry we are launching today in the Senate Chamber will be a spark joining many other sparks to create the energy — renewable, of course — needed for a serious and respectful pan-Canadian conversation on solutions to climate change. With this, honourable colleagues, I am extending an open hand to invite each of you to join in the inquiry and demonstrate to all Canadians, and our global neighbours, our interest and commitment to them and to a stable future with secure, sustainable jobs, a healthy planet, a more united society and a thriving, accountable democracy.

Colleagues, this is why we are here. Let’s do it. Who is up next?

Wela’lioq. Thank you.