Progress Report On N.B. Climate Change Plan

Four years after New Brunswick renewed its Climate Change Action Plan, we are getting an update on the work that has been done so far.

The province released a progress report Thursday — the first since the plan was unveiled in late 2016 — detailing the actions that have been taken over the past several years.

The plan focuses on seven different areas: provincial government leadership; collaboration with First Nations; GHG emission reductions; adaptation to the impacts of climate change; economic opportunities; accountability and reporting; and funding for climate change.

It includes 118 action items meant to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while promoting economic growth and increasing climate change resilience.

In all, 25 of the items are listed as completed, 87 others are in progress, and the remaining six are listed as “future start”.

“Climate change is a shared responsibility and I am pleased to see that New Brunswickers from all sectors and regions are taking action,” Environment and Climate Change Minister Gary Crossman said in a news release.

The province highlighted progress in a number of areas, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 34 per cent since 2005, investing more than $7.5 million in climate change initiatives through the Environmental Trust Fund, and creating an all-party standing committee dedicated to climate change.

It also said that one-third of municipalities have completed climate change adaptation plans, including all cities and highest-risk coastal areas.

In addition, the province said more than 13,500 homeowners, 1,000 businesses and 100 industrial projects have been registered under six new energy efficiency programs.

Among the action items listed as “future start” are:

• Encouraging municipal and other public institutions to participate and make similar commitments as the provincial government in becoming carbon neutral.
• Using the Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program in New Brunswick as a means of financing for private property owners to implement energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements, if viable.
• Requiring energy labelling for all new building construction, both residential and commercial, if viable.

“New Brunswick has embraced its role as being part of the solution to the global challenge of climate change,” said Crossman. “We will continue our work to make New Brunswick an environmentally sustainable province.”