While Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna says there’s been no decision yet on the future of Canada’s floor price on carbon after it hits $50 per tonne in 2022, a Finance Canada paper circulated this week by Alberta’s United Conservative Party suggests future increases could be on the way.
The paper says the broad strategy of setting a federal “backstop” for provincial carbon pricing programs will be opened up for review four years from now “to confirm the path forward, including continued increases in stringency in future years.”
While the floor price is widely expected to increase beyond 2022, the Globe and Mail notes, “a post-2022 price road map has not been clearly laid out by Ottawa.”
The Pembina Institute is calling for a predictable schedule of increases between 2022 and 2030, and “various economic models have shown that Canada will need carbon prices of $150 a tonne or more to meet the target of reducing emissions by 30% below the 2005 level by 2030,” the Globe adds.
