Managing the Federal Approach to Climate Change

Canada is not on track to meet its climate change obligations

Chapter 1, 2006 Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

Ottawa, 28 September 2006—In her Report tabled today in the House of Commons, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Johanne Gélinas, says the federal government's track record on dealing with climate change has not been good. Not only are Canada 's greenhouse gas emissions not declining, they are actually continuing to grow.

"Based on the audit evidence we have gathered over the past 18 months, it is increasingly clear that Canada will not be able to achieve the target for greenhouse gas reductions that it committed to under the Kyoto Protocol—and it has no targets beyond 2012," said the Commissioner.

The Report notes that the transportation and industry sectors account for more than three quarters of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. However, the audit found that even if key measures announced and proposed for these sectors are implemented, they may only slow the rate of emission growth.

The audit also found that the proposed system for trading domestic emissions has potentially serious financial implications for the Canadian taxpayer.

"The government has struggled to put in place an approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by large industries, but many elements critical to its success are still unresolved," said Ms Gélinas.

The Report says it is essential that in its leadership of climate change the government apply the basics of good management—governance and accountability. Those involved need to clearly understand, agree to, and fulfill their roles and responsibilities. However, the government has yet to create an effective governance structure for managing its climate change activities, and promised public reports have not been issued.

"It is disturbing that despite $6.3 billion in announced funding since 1997, there is still no government-wide consolidated monitoring and reporting of climate change performance and spending," said Ms. Gélinas.

The Report comments favourably on Sustainable Development Technology Canada, a foundation established by the government in 2001 to foster the creation of sustainable development technologies in Canada. The Report says the foundation has taken reasonable steps to fulfill its climate change mandate.

The Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development and her audit team are part of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada. Her mandate is to audit and report to Parliament and Canadians how well federal departments and agencies implement government policies on environmental and sustainable development issues.

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The chapter "Managing the Federal Approach to Climate Change" is available on the Office of the Auditor General of Canada Web site.

Information:

Communications
Tel.: (613) 952-0213, ext. 6292
E-mail: communications@oag-bvg.gc.ca