Historical Information
2002: Climate Change Plan for Canada
The Government of Canada released the Climate Change Plan for Canada on November 21, 2002.
On October 24, 2002, the Government of Canada released a comprehensive overview of its Draft Plan on Climate Change: Achieving our Commitments Together.
On October 11, 2002, Government of Canada officials held a background technical briefing on the latest economic modelling of Canada's Kyoto commitment to address climate change: Modelling the economic impacts of addressing Climate Change.
On May 15, 2002, the Government of Canada released A Discussion Paper on Canada's Contribution to Addressing Climate Change. The Discussion Paper sets out options for addressing Canada's climate change commitments and seeks input on key issues.
2000: Action Plan 2000
At the October 16-17, 2000 meeting of federal, provincial and territorial energy and environment Ministers, all governments, except Ontario, approved the National Implementation Strategy on Climate Change and the First National Business Plan. The actions proposed by the provinces and territories in the Business Plan will help Canada meet its Kyoto commitments.
On October 6, 2000, the Government of Canada announced its Action Plan 2000 on Climate Change. This plan will reduce Canada's greenhouse gas emissions by 65 megatonnes per year by the period 2008-2012, taking us one third of the way to our Kyoto target, and reflects the Government of Canada's contribution to the First National Climate Change Business Plan.
Action Plan 2000 puts Canada firmly on the path to meeting our Kyoto commitment. Funding of $500 million for Action Plan 2000 was announced in the Government's Economic Statement of October 18th, 2000. Combined with the $625 million announced in Budget 2000, this investment will result in a commitment of up to $1.1 billion.
Action Plan 2000 takes action on many fronts: further reductions to Canada's greenhouse gas emissions in all sectors; expanding the use of low or non-emitting energy sources by four times current levels; increasing the use of ethanol in gasoline; investing in the refuelling infrastructure for fuel cell vehicles; infrastructure enhancing opportunities to store carbon in agricultural soils and forests; investigating the potential of geological storage of carbon dioxide; assessing impacts; identifying adaptation needs; and analyzing policy options such as domestic emissions trading.
Action Plan 2000 builds on measures announced in Budget 2000. Budget 2000 established a number of new initiatives to address climate change. These include: promoting technology innovation; enhancing climate change and atmospheric research; helping municipalities take action; expanding purchases of green power; building capacity and reducing emissions abroad; and renewing the Climate Change Action Fund, energy efficiency, and renewable energy programs.
1998: National Climate Change Secretariat
The Climate Change Secretariat, established by the Prime Minister in February 1998, played an integral role in the development of the National Implementation Strategy. The Secretariat had three primary objectives:
- served as a focal point for developing the federal government's domestic policy and programming on climate change, and broad communications strategy development and programming on climate change;
- coordinated, in cooperation with provincial officials, the development of a National Implementation Strategy, which set out a program for enabling Canada to meet the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets established in the Kyoto Protocol; and
- managed the Climate Change Action Fund.
The Climate Change Action Fund was created in 1998 to facilitate early actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to support the development of an implementation strategy to meet Canada's Kyoto commitments.
1997: Our Kyoto Commitments
In June 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Canada signed the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC). The Convention was ratified by more than 100 countries, including Canada, and became official on March 21, 1994. Industrialized nations, as well as countries with economies in transition, committed to a goal of stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions at 1990 levels by 2000. In 1995, the Parties to the Convention began negotiations for a binding agreement to set targets for the post-2000 era.
In December 1997, ministers and other high-level officials from 160 countries met in Kyoto, Japan, for the Third Conference of Parties (COP3) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and agreed to the Kyoto Protocol. Canada signed the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change at the United Nations in New York on April 29, 1998 (see news release).
Under this legally binding Protocol, industrialized countries must reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.2% by the period 2008 to 2012. Canada's reduction target is 6% below 1990 levels by the same period.
In reality, this will require a 25 percent drop in emissions from "business as usual" projections.
This won't be easy. It will require major changes in the way we produce and use energy at home, at work and on the road. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions protects the environment, our health and improves our air quality. Achieving our Kyoto targets will also foster the development of innovative technologies that will lead to new economic opportunities.
1995: The National Action Program on Climate Change
Developed and agreed upon by all federal and provincial/territorial energy and environment ministers, the NAPCC sets the strategic course Canada will take to meet its national commitment to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions at 1990 levels by 2000. It also addresses further reductions in the post-2000 era.
As part of our international commitments on climate change, Canada, along with other signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), are obligated to submit to the UNFCCC Secretariat periodic national communications (reports). These reports are to provide a wide ranging and comprehensive update on a country's mitigation and adaptation efforts in response to climate change. Read more on Canada's Third National Report on Climate Change.