Net-Zero Advisory Body releases its annual report to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change on actions Canada must take to compete and succeed in a net-zero future

Press Release

OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 27, 2023 – Today, Canada’s Net-Zero Advisory Body (NZAB) released its annual report, Compete and Succeed in a Net-Zero Future, featuring concrete solutions the Government of Canada should implement to ensure Canada benefits from a global net-zero economy, accelerates the attainment of a net-zero emissions economy, and generates clean prosperity for generations to come.

Canada has committed to fight climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45% by 2030 from 2005 levels and reaching net zero emissions by 2050. Canada has built a credible foundation to meet these targets, but it must remain at the forefront of the net-zero movement to ensure competitiveness in the global economy, sustain well-being, create good net-zero compatible jobs, and attract investments to leverage competitive advantages. Independent advice and targeting a whole-of-society approach to transformation across all parts of the economy, is critical to achieving Canada’s climate objectives.

The report to the federal Minister of the Environment and Climate Change includes 25 recommendations across the NZAB’s three lines of inquiryidentified for 2022-23: net-zero governance, net-zero industrial policy, and net-zero energy systems. This advice was informed through engagement with over 100 decision-makers and experts, including industry experts, academia, non-governmental organizations and associations, and Indigenous rights-holders. Implementing these actions without delay is essential to succeed in creating a prosperous net-zero future for all Canadians. The net-zero transition is our generation’s moonshot, and we must undertake it with a clear sense of urgency.

Launched in February 2021 and formalized under the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act in June 2021, the NZAB is mandated to provide independent advice to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change with respect to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. In turn, the Act requires the Minister to publicly respond to the advice outlined in the annual report within 120 days.

In 2023, the NZAB will continue to deepen its advice.

Highlights

• Compete and Succeed in a Net-Zero Future is the third report to the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change since the NZAB was founded, and first legislated annual report under the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act.
• The NZAB’s annual report contains 25 pieces of advice across three priority areas: (1) net-zero governance, (2) net-zero industrial policy, and (3) net-zero energy systems.
• To inform this annual report, the NZAB hosted briefings, roundtable discussions, and conference engagement activities with a range of decision-makers and experts, including industry experts, academics, Indigenous organizations, labour representatives, and non-governmental organizations. It also received emailed comments from members of the public.
• In June 2023, a summary of what was heard through the NZAB’s engagement activities will be published on our website.

Links

• Website: https://nzab2050.ca/
• Compete and Succeed in a Net-Zero Future
• Submission to Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan
• Net-Zero Pathways: Initial Observations
• Twitter: @NZAB_Canada

Quotes

“While climate plans to date set a strong foundation for reducing emissions, there needs to be widespread understanding that eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from the economy in a net zero way, is fundamentally different from reducing greenhouse gases.   Incremental change to our current systems will simply not result in systems that are functional and net zero by 2050.  We need to define the necessary future systems now to allow sufficient time to build them by 2050.” – Dan Wicklum, NZAB Co-Chair

“Seizing the upsides of net-zero by 2050 will require unprecedented transformations of Canada’s economy and energy systems, both of which depend on a firm collective commitment towards shared objectives.”
– Marie-Pierre Ippersiel, NZAB Co-Chair

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