What is the federal government doing about the climate change and air pollution issues becoming more and more prevalent today?
Answer
Canada`s national implementation strategy on climate change has brought together 450 experts who have been organized in 16 “Issue Tables” or working groups.
The strategy will be developed around five key themes:
- enhancing the awareness and understanding Canadians
- promoting technology development and innovation
- governments leading by example investing in knowledge and building the foundation.
These 16 groups work to identify what all sectors in our economy can do to reduce their emissions.
Sectoral strategies are being developed for the agricultural, buildings, electricity, forestry, industry, transportation and municipality sectors. These sectoral strategies will draw upon the reports produced by the Issue Tables.
The Transportation Table has listed 127 actions that could be considered to reduce emissions. Forty-nine measures aimed at encouraging the implementation of the actions included parking charges, road pricing and fuel taxes to stimulate the development and use of more efficient technologies and incentives to promote public transit. The Buildings Table looked at promoting take-up of energy-efficient buildings, appliances and energy sources.
The federal government has also implemented a Public Education and Outreach (PEO) program which provides funding to projects that increase public awareness and understanding of climate change. The federal government also recognizes that a domestic emissions trading system will likely be needed as part of Canada`s strategy.