MD’s group urges life-saving investment

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This article was published 13/07/2020 (1382 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new report from the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment is asking the federal government to harness its COVID-19 economic stimulus — not only to address climate change and emissions but more specifically to save more than 100,000 lives.

The federal government revealed its economic update last week, indicating a deficit of $343 billion would be posted in order to support the Canadian economy through the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. These spending levels haven’t been seen since the Second World War.

“The investment choices our government makes will determine whether we fall back towards a fossil fuel-intensive economy that puts our health at risk, or move Canada forward on a path to meeting our climate targets and ridding our economy of greenhouse gas emissions while driving investment in sustainable jobs,” reads the opening letter to the report, Healthy Recovery Plan, signed by CAPE chief executive officer and president Robin Edger.

CAPE paired with Navius Research — a company that looks at economic, energy and climate policy — to create a road map and recommendations on how fiscal stimulus could be used to meet climate change emissions reduction targets previously set by the Liberals since 2005. Based on data made available by Health Canada, the report then extrapolates how the decline in emissions would affect air pollution — and, as a result, save lives.

“Of course, we focus a lot on climate change, but then a lot of the best information on health impacts — especially health impacts that we can reduce — all have to do with air pollution, which is not climate change exactly,” Edger told the Free Press.

“But, obviously, the emissions that cause air pollution also cause climate change, so they’re not unrelated. Then climate change makes air pollution worse, both because it’s worse when it’s hotter, but also because of (the increased intensity of) wildfires.”

Edger said if this fiscal stimulus isn’t used to bolster a green economy, the moment where it is possible will be lost. CAPE determined the roadmap was required policy recommendation because of how far behind Canada has fallen on its commitments to reduce greenhouse gases.

“As per the most recent annual projection by the Canadian government, that includes actions taken by governments, consumers, Canada was on track to miss its 2030 GHG emissions commitment by 162 annual megatonnes of greenhouse gases. That gap alone is more than double the annual emissions from personal vehicles in Canada. So, we have some work to do,” the report reads.

The calculations spearheaded by Navius Research estimate that between 2030 and 2050, if emissions reductions targets were to be met, air pollution in Canada would be reduced to the extent that it would spare approximately 112,000 lives from premature death.

“That’s a big figure. That’s like twice the size of Brandon,” Edger said. “The roadmap we created is basically reverse-engineered from there — how to achieve those goals.”

The report lists 25 recommendations and priority investment areas for the federal government to achieve its climate goals, including electric vehicle manufacturing, establishing zero-emissions building targets for new homes and commercial buildings, and investing in zero-emissions transit infrastructure.

One of the key priorities of the report is decarbonizing the electricity grids of the country, which Manitoba would be less affected by since its electricity is nearly entirely produced through hydroelectric power. However, the report suggests a $2-billion grid investment to connect Saskatchewan into Manitoba’s grid would be worthwhile in order to try and eliminate Saskatchewan’s use of coal-fired electricity.

Manitoba would also benefit from investment in hydrogen refuelling and electric vehicle infrastructure, if the recommendations were pursued by the federal government.

“This is their shot,” Edger said. “We can’t spend all this money on broadening highways, and subsidizing fossil fuels and think that we’re going to hit our targets. That’s never going to happen.”

sarah.lawrynuik@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @SarahLawrynuik