MESSAGE FROM
THE PRESIDENT
AND CEO

 

Reality Check is just that: a reality check on where Canada really is in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to meet the federal government’s 2020 target. The NRT’s work is original and needed. Billions of dollars of investment and effort have been and will be expended by governments, industry, and consumers on various climate policies and programs to reduce carbon emissions. But how effective are they? Will they yield results? The NRT provides some answers.

We show, for the first time, comprehensively just where we are on the path to 2020. We illustrate the actual and expected contributions of federal and provincial governments to meeting this challenge. We demonstrate what it will take, and what it will cost, to close the emissions gap to Canada’s 2020 target.

Carbon emissions in our country do not belong to any one level of government. National climate policy progress has been slow and difficult in Canada given the sources and trends in emissions across Canada. Governments have talked, have acted to some degree, but sustained progress Canadians can count on is not yet taking place. The NRT sets out advice on how to coordinate climate policies across the country so they work better, together.

Our message is clear. We need to move beyond current approaches and have a truly pan-Canadian dialogue on how to do this better. If not, Canada’s 2020 target will remain a hope not a reality.

David McLaughlin
NRT President and Chief Executive Officer