Ontario “will need both cap-and-trade and a suite of complementary policies and programs” to meet its carbon reduction targets, the Clean Economy Alliance reported last month, after convening a day-long Ontario Climate Change Lab earlier in the summer.
“Ontarians support climate action,” the Alliance states in the executive summary of its Climate Lab report. “And they have good ideas about how we can reduce our emissions in a way that cleans our air, creates new opportunities for businesses, and creates jobs.” Through a series of facilitated sessions, a group of 150 participants voted on action items that now form a prioritized action plan for the province, including:
- Mandatory energy reporting and benchmarking for large buildings, and energy audits and report cards for homes
- A carbon lens for decision-making “that considers the complete lifecycle assessments of products, including upstream, operations, and downstream”
- Mandated energy and greenhouse gas reduction targets for regions and municipalities
- Requirements and a methodology for the province’s regulated pension funds and large companies to disclose their carbon footprints
- Congestion pricing, HOV/HOT lanes, workplace incentives, and better cycling infrastructure to encourage more people to get out of their cars
- Positioning job creation as “an integral part of the climate strategy”.
(Disclosure: Smarter Shift is a member of the Clean Economy Alliance.)
