It's a central part of the Liberals political message.
If you stand in a way of clean energy development
and pollution reduction,
you're standing in the way of sustained economic success for
Canadians.
But the latest report from the Environment department outlines a
mixed bag on their efforts to curb emissions.
In 2022, greenhouse gases actually went up 1.3%
to a total of 708 megatons.
That's the equivalent of 260 million cars on the road.
Despite the slight increase, the environment minister points to a
bigger trend.
Updated report shows significantly lower emissions by 44 million tonnes
than our pre pandemic levels.
Emissions are at their lowest they've been in 25 years
with the exception of 2020 and 2021 during COVID.
Emissions cuts alongside a growing Canadian economy,
an important sign for environmentalists.
Do you think that electric vehicles LED light bulbs energy
efficiency in in in industry and those are counteracting the
rise in emissions for more economic activity?
That is a positive trend.
It's not good enough to meet the government's pollution targets,
according to the environment commissioner.
Surprisingly, there is no overarching industrial decarbonization policy to provide
Innovation,
Science and Economic Development Canada with a clear picture of
which industries are most in need of funds to reduce
emissions.
The Liberal's own goal is to cut emissions by 40%
from 2005 levels by 20-30,
but currently they've only been slashed by 7.1%.
We're not bending the curve.
At the at the scale and pace needed,
we know we needed, we need to do much more
in order to avoid really the most catastrophic and irreversible
outcomes.
One thing that's not included in the emissions numbers,
the impact of natural disasters like forest fires,
which last year alone, Donna were estimated to be triple
an entire year's worth of emissions.
All right, Mackenzie Gray in Ottawa,
thank you.