Canada’s new impact assessment rules for power plants, pipelines, and other major infrastructure fall far short of the climate test environmental organizations have been calling for, and only require a path to net-zero emissions for projects that will still be in operation in 2050, under a new federal framework unveiled last week.
“The government has just made it harder for Canada to get on the right pathway to reach our target of becoming net-neutral by 2050,” Julia Levin, climate and energy program manager at Toronto-based Environmental Defence, said in a release. “It is inconsistent to commit to a green recovery and serious climate action while simultaneously failing to put in place a mechanism to ensure that only projects that are consistent with those goals are built.”