Federal Net-Zero Emissions legislation fundamentally misunderstood and ineffectual; not legally binding and lacks details – Fraser Institute

 

Summary

• People given placebos in drug tests often feel better because they expect they will. Legislation can have a similar placebo effect. Canada’s Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act is an example: it makes people feel better despite being ineffective, unnecessary, and potentially harmful.
• The minister responsible has described the Act as setting “legally-binding targets.” That is incorrect. It legislates a target but doesn’t bind anyone to meet it.
• Both the previous government and this one have set emissions targets without using legislation to do so, so this Act is unnecessary for that purpose.
• The Act will encourage lawsuits that will seek to enforce compliance with the target, which the government might not defend vigorously.
• A government media release says the Act provides transparency and accountability but that is also unnecessary because Canada’s commitment to file such reports under the Paris Agreement already does that.
• Despite the promised transparency the Act is opaque on the single most important issue: the cost to Canadians of the rapid transition to net-zero emissions. Predictably, the rapid transition is inflationary and will make food, home heating, electricity, and transportation much costlier.
• Contrary to popular misconception, the Paris Agreement does not require any specific emissions reductions but allows each country to determine its own targets.
• China, India, and others (representing two thirds of the global population) have decided to increase their total emissions. Canada, prior to the COVID-19 lockdowns, was actually increasing its greenhouse gas emissions, making it unlikely that the country will meet the net-zero target.

Author:

Andrew Roman

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The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute’s independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research.
Visit www.fraserinstitute.org

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