Action Plan 2000

On October 6, 2000, the Government of Canada announced its Action Plan 2000 on Climate Change. The Plan will put Canada firmly on the path to meet its Kyoto commitment. When fully implemented, the package of practical, cost-effective measures will take Canada one-third of the way to its Kyoto target by reducing emissions of GHG by about 65 megatonnes per year in 2010.

Action Plan 2000 captures many of the best ideas of a comprehensive two-year consultation process involving federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments, as well as experts from industry, academia and non-governmental organisations. The Transportation Climate Change Table, which was sponsored by Ministers of transportation in May 1998 as part of this process, brought together the full spectrum of transportation stakeholder to assess ways to reduce GHG emissions from transportation.

The transportation component of Action Plan 2000 is substantial. It responds to the fact that, while fuel efficiency is improving, it is not keeping pace with annual increases in the use of transportation. The five new transportation programs in the Plan; Urban Transportation, Freight Transportation, Vehicle Efficiency, Future Fuels (ethanol) and Fuel-Cell Vehicles, take a balanced approach towards vehicle and fuel technology, behaviour change and infrastructure.

Promising technologies exist but they can only get us part of the way towards our goal. The Plan's emphasis on pilot projects and demonstration reflects the Transportation Table's conclusion that many measures in this sector need further assessment prior to wide scale implementation.

Action Plan 2000 recognises that in order to make real progress in the transportation sector, we must work in partnership with those who use and influence the transportation system such as provinces, municipalities, industry, non-government groups and consumers. Many important partnerships are reflected in the new transportation programs.