Climate Change Accountability Act

Re-introducing the Climate Change Accountability Act, Bill C-311

The science is now unequivocal: unchecked greenhouse gas emissions will lead to catastrophe. We face
vanishing polar ice caps, drought, rising sea levels, altered agriculture, massive deforestation, species
extinctions, virulent diseases, extreme weather events, and economic hardship. Faced with conclusive
evidence for years, successive Prime Ministers promised that they would act—but didn’t.

A new level of political commitment is needed to prevent the threat of worsening economic and health
effects of climate pollution.

Bill C-311 ensures the government is

accountable to Canadians on climate change.
WHAT C-311 DOES
The Bill is virtually unchanged from last
Parliament when it was introduced as C-377, The bill requires the Minister of
passed through the House before dying in the Environment to implement
the Senate due to the 2008 election. measures to ensure that Canada
reduces its absolute greenhouse
Protecting our environment and tackling gas emissions by:
climate change are critical to maintaining
Canada’s tremendous natural and ecological • 25% below 1990 levels
advantages, ensuring highly livable by 2020
communities, positioning our economy for
• 80% below 1990 levels
future prosperity, and being part of the
global solution to the environmental and by 2050
humanitarian threat that is climate change. It introduces greater government
accountability by requiring the
Fulfilling Canada’s International Environment Minister to prepare
Commitments 5-year target plans starting in
2015, and report on progress
C-311 achieves deep, science-based
reductions of climate pollution in the post-2012 period. The Bill is based on the Case for Deep Reductions
report by the Pembina Institute and the David Suzuki Foundation. This bill will ensure that our government
can never again shirk its international commitments, through measures like:
− long-term targets – 80% below 1990 levels by 2050 - for the reduction of Canadian greenhouse
gas emissions and medium-term target of 25% below 1990 levels by 2020.
− provide authority for the government to make regulations in order to meet these targets and set
penalties for those who contravene regulations passed under the Act.

Ensuring Accountability
C-311 requires the government to prepare and publish a plan for interim targets
for every 5 years starting in 2015, with the first target published within 6 months
of the Bill becoming law. It requires the government to make regulations in order
to meet those targets.
It mandates regular reviews and reports from an independent outside party
(the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy) on the
government’s selection of targets and the measures it adopts to reach those targets.

Achievable Targets
Here's how the logic behind the bill goes:
Temperature Limit: science indicates that we must avoid a 2 degree Celsius increase
(from pre-industrial levels) in the earth's temperature in order to avoid catastrophic
climate effects.
Concentration Objective: the science indicates that limiting global warming to no
more than 2 degrees requires stabilizing CO2e at 400 ppm. In order to check
temperature increases, we need to stabilize the concentration of CO2-equivalent in
the atmosphere (by 2004 we had reached a level of 377 ppm)
2050 GHG reduction target: 80% reduction by 2050 for Canada. Industrialized
countries must reduce emissions by 85-90% between 1990 and 2050 and Canada's
emissions are, on a per capita basis, among the highest in the world.
2020 GHG reduction target: 25% reduction by 2020. This target lies on a straight
line between Kyoto 2008-12 target (6% reduction) and 2050 target.