Climate advisers quit roles citing MOU with Alberta

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Two former members of the federal Net-Zero Advisory Body say they’re “worried about the future of Canada” and say the country will not meet its commitment to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45 per cent by 2030.

Catherine Abreu and Simon Donner were founding members of the expert-appointed body which advises the government on the path to net-zero emissions. They resigned this week saying the Liberal government is ignoring its experts.

In an interview on CTV’s Power Play, Abreu and Donner said last week’s memorandum of understanding with the government of Alberta was “the last straw.”

On Nov. 27, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith unveiled a new memorandum of understanding (MOU), which lays the groundwork for strengthened co-operation on major energy projects, including a new pipeline and carbon capture.

“This isn’t the first step that we’ve seen to the suspension, the delay, the dismantling of climate policy in Canada,” said Abreu, who is the director of the International Climate Politics Hub.

She pointed to the climate competitiveness strategy in last month’s federal budget saying it only rolled back existing climate policies without putting any alternative measures in place.

The strategy, as outlined in the budget, aims to attract investment for clean growth with tax credits while also strengthening industrial carbon pricing.

“If they’re going to say, we’re going to kill these climate policies, they have to have something to replace the climate policies with to actually deliver on those climate targets that I have to remind us all are enshrined in Canadian law,” said Abreu who added that was ultimately why she stepped away.

Donner was the chair of the advisory board for the last six months. However, he says the situation at the body has been in steady decline saying they had not been given a mandate for several months and there was no effort by the government to replace members who left after their terms ended.

“It felt like I was like plugging all the holes in the dam with every limb I could find, and the MOU just put it over the edge,” said Donner. “Honestly, I couldn’t do another briefing with the minister and look myself in the eye afterwards, because of the MOU.”

In a statement to CTV News, Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin’s press secretary thanked Abreu and Donner for their “valuable contributions.”

Keean Nembhard added the department values the independent advice given by the Net-Zero Advisory Body, noting the minister is set to meet with it before the end of this year.

“The government is taking a whole government approach to drive emissions down and build the strong sustainable economy of the future,” said Nembhard. “We are doing this through measures like strengthened industrial carbon pricing, enhanced methane regulations, clean-economy investment tax credits, carbon capture, and major clean energy and transmission projects.”

The resignations come just a weeks after former environment minister Steven Guilbeault quit his cabinet role as Canadian Identity and Culture Minister over a “profound” disagreement over climate policy with Carney.

In an interview Wednesday on CTV’s Power Play, Guilbeault said Alberta’s increase to its industrial carbon pricing is not enough to mitigate the rollback of other climate policies and referenced an Environment Canada estimate that says the industrial carbon tax would need to be $400 per tonne to make up for the suspension of clean electricity regulations.

“The math doesn’t add up,” he said.

Donner, who is a climate scientist and professor at the University of British Columbia, says the MOU was dishonest and “deeply cynical” because he believes it’s saying something about climate competitiveness, but it isn’t.

“The pipeline for carbon capture deal would increase emissions. The math on that is not very complicated,” said Donner. “I’m not a politician, and so maybe this is good political math, but I’m a scientist, and I can tell you it’s bad actual math.”

In 2015, then-governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney gave a landmark speech at a gathering of leading insurers at Lloyd’s of London, warning of the climate emergency. “The challenges currently posed by climate change pale in significance compared with what might come,” Carney said at the time.

“I think most of us were expecting a lot more from Prime Minister Carney when it comes to climate action,” said Abreu when asked to compare those words to Carney’s actions as prime minister.

Abreu believes Canada is being left behind in the fight to curb emissions as global peers like the United Kington and European Union are tying economic success directly to environmental protection.

“I think we’ve seen a really disappointing lack of imagination and innovation so far from Prime Minister Carney in thinking about how we can develop projects yes, to increase Canadian prosperity, in a way that is aligned with meeting our climate goals,” said Abreu.

With files from CTV News’ Stephanie Ha