April 16, 2009: The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) today advised the federal government to move quickly to implement a unified national carbon pricing policy across Canada in order to meet the federal government’s greenhouse gases (GHG) targets for 2020 and 2050.

Achieving 2050: A Carbon Pricing Policy for Canada sets out a comprehensive road-map for establishing a national cap-and-trade system in a phased manner, with adequate transition for industry and consumers, to allow Canada to achieve its environmental goals at the least economic cost.

(left to right) Robert Dubé, NRTEE Member; Bob Page, NRTEE Chair; and David McLaughlin, NRTEE President and CEO at press conference for "Achieving 2050".

"A unified approach is better for Canada overall at keeping costs down for companies and consumers. New collaborative governance mechanisms we are proposing will make it easier and more effective for the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to work together and meet our environmental goals, at the least economic cost." Robert Dubé, NRTEE Member

Highlights

• An economy-wide carbon price signal is the most effective way to achieve the Government of Canada’s medium- and long-term emission reduction targets and reduce cumulative emissions released into the atmosphere.
  
  
• That price signal should take the form of an economy-wide cap-and-trade system that unifies
  carbon prices across all jurisdictions and emissions and prepares us for international linkages with our major trading partners.
  
  
• An effective carbon pricing policy needs to find a balance between certainty and adaptability— it should be certain enough to transmit a clear, long-term price signal to the economy upon commencement to encourage technology and change behaviour, yet adaptable to changing
  circumstances and future learning.
  
  
• There is a cost to delay in the form of higher carbon prices later to meet targets, and a cost to
  maintaining Canada’s current fragmented approach to carbon pricing policies in the form of reduced GDP and higher carbon prices over time.
  
  
• Canada’s economy will continue to grow under this policy—it is forecast to be twice as large in 2050 than today—but this will be smaller than if no carbon pricing policy were adopted.
  
  
• New federal/provincial/territorial governance mechanisms and processes should be put in place
  to achieve a harmonized Canadian carbon pricing policy.
  
  
• Technology development and deployment, along with the electrification of the energy system,
  is central to emission reductions and is stimulated through an economy-wide carbon price signal, as well as appropriate public investment in carbon capture and storage and renewable
  energy.
  
  
• Complementary regulatory and technology policies in the transportation, buildings, oil and gas, and agricultural sectors are also required to ensure broad-based emissions coverage at an overall lower price, reduce total emissions, and meet government targets.

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