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Government of Canada announces
$9.6 million for climate change projects
Ottawa, November 16, 1999 - A number of
innovative new projects will enable individual Canadians,
researchers and businesses across the country to better understand
their role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to
the challenge of climate change. Environment Minister David Anderson
and Natural Resources Canada Minister Ralph Goodale today announced
funding of $9.6 million for 59 projects under the Government of
Canada's Climate Change Action Fund (CCAF). Projects will
focus on Public Education and Outreach (PEO); Technology Early
Action Measures (TEAM); and Science, Impacts and Adaptation (SIA).
Helping Canadians to take action at home, at work
and on the road is the focus of 33 Public Education or PEO projects
for which $4.1 million is being committed. Projects range from home
energy audits to educational support materials for elementary and
secondary school teachers, to programs for retailers, employers,
farmers and foresters. In support of these community-based
initiatives both Ministers also unveiled a new climate change
newspaper insert aimed at consumers that will be delivered to
Canadian homes this coming weekend.
The technological opportunities associated with
addressing climate change were also highlighted in the CCAF
contribution of $3.7 million to Canadian industries for six
technology TEAM projects. Through TEAM the Government of Canada
helps industry develop and deploy cost-effective new technologies
that may lead to significant greenhouse gas reductions. The
initiatives announced today range from an innovative test that
involves injecting carbon dioxide deep into Alberta coal beds to the
development of 'green diesel' in Ontario.
Ministers also underscored the important role
science and research plays in more fully understanding the climate
system, the impacts of climate change and the global need to respond
and adapt by also announcing funding of $1.8 million for 20 Science,
Impacts and Adaptation projects. Universities from coast to coast
will be involved in some of these science projects.
"Tackling the climate change issue requires
the involvement and cooperation of every Canadian," said
Minister Anderson. "The implications for our environment, our
health and our lifestyles could be dramatic unless individuals,
governments, businesses and the scientific community work together
towards the common goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and
adapting to climate change."
"We are going to see dual benefits from taking up the
climate change challenge -- an improved environment and economic
opportunities from the solutions we devise," said Minister
Goodale. "Canadian companies are creating jobs at home by
bringing world-class innovative technology to the international
marketplace and our researchers are at the forefront of
investigating climate change, its impacts and ways to
adapt."
The three-year $150 million CCAF was introduced in
the 1998-99 federal budget and is built into the existing fiscal
framework. To date, the Government of Canada, through the CCAF, has
committed nearly $74.9 million to 234 CCAF projects.
This initiative is part of the Government of
Canada's commitment to strengthen environmental protection,
protect human health and ensure that we maintain and enhance the
quality of life for all Canadians as outlined in the 1999 Speech
from the Throne.
Related documents:
- Climate Change Action Fund - Public Education and Outreach (PEO) Projects [backgrounder, 16 Nov 1999]
- Climate Change Action Fund - Science, Impacts and Adaptation Projects [backgrounder, 16 Nov 1999]
- Climate Change Action Fund - Technology Early Action Measures (TEAM) [backgrounder, 16 Nov 1999]
- Our climate is changing [newspaper supplement, 16 Nov 1999]
- Speaking Notes for the Honourable David Anderson, P.C., M.P., Minister of the Environment at the Climate Change Action Fund Announcement [speech, 16 Nov 1999]
- Speaking Notes for the Honourable Ralph Goodale, P.C., M.P., Minister of Natural Resources at the Climate Change Action Fund Announcement [speech, 16 Nov 1999]
- Canada's perspective on Climate Change Web site [information collection]
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