News Release

Canada's New Government Announces Mandatory Industrial Targets to Tackle Climate Change and Reduce Air Pollution 

TORONTO, Ontario, April 26, 2007 - The Honourable John Baird, Minister of the Environment, today unveiled Turning the Corner: An Action Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gases and Air Pollution, which will see the federal government for the first-time ever force industry to reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution.

Canada's New Government will impose mandatory targets on industry, so that greenhouse gases come down and we achieve our goal of an absolute reduction of 150 megatonnes by 2020. As well, we will impose targets on industry so that air pollution from industry is cut in half by 2015.

"Canada needs to do a U-Turn, because we are going in the wrong direction. Since the Liberals promised to reduce greenhouse gases in 1997, they have only gone up," said Minister Baird. "Canadians want action, they want it now and our government is delivering. We are serving notice that beginning today, industry will need to make real reductions."

Industry produces about half of Canada's greenhouse gas and air pollution. The Government is setting targets that begin immediately for reducing industrial greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.

These industrial targets, combined with the other actions announced to date to tackle climate change, will turn things around. Under the previous government, greenhouse gas emissions went up year after year. Canada's New Government's Turning the Corner Plan, by contrast, will cut 150 megatonnes by 2020.

"In as little as three years, greenhouse gases could be going down, instead of up," said Minister Baird.  "After years of inaction, Canada now has one of the most aggressive plans to tackle greenhouse gases and air pollution in the world."

Companies will be able to choose the most cost-effective way to meet their targets from a range of options: in-house reductions, contributions to a capped technology fund, domestic emissions trading and offsets and access to the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism. Companies that have already reduced their greenhouse gas emissions prior to 2006 will be rewarded with a limited one-time credit for early action.

These tough industrial regulations will have real, tangible health and environmental benefits for Canadians, and these, in turn, will have many positive economic effects.  The Government's Turning the Corner Plan will promote investment in technology and innovation in Canada, yielding long-term economic benefits from enhanced productivity, improved energy efficiency, greater competitiveness, more opportunity to sell Canadian environmental products and know-how abroad, and more jobs for Canadians.

In addition to measures to reduce air emissions from industry, this Government is committed to addressing emissions from transportation by regulating for the first time the fuel efficiency of cars and light duty trucks, beginning with the 2011 model year.  We will also strengthen energy efficiency standards for a number of energy-using products, including light bulbs, and for the first time ever, the Government has recognized the urgent need to take action to improve indoor air quality and committed to implement measures to do so.