Federal commitments to climate action were undercut by the government’s failure to address the largest and fastest-growing source of carbon emissions in Canada: the oil and gas industry. The federal government has no clear plan on how to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, as promised during the election. Progress has also been slow in eliminating federal fossil fuel subsidies. Conflicts over pipelines to export natural gas to international markets boiled over this past year. In 2020, countries will need to make new commitments under the Paris Agreement and replenish their climate finance packages. Canada needs to step up on both fronts with much more ambitious commitments for emissions reductions and contributing its fair share to global efforts around climate adaptation and mitigation.
Despite intense opposition from oil and gas industry lobbyists, the government managed to legislate a new Impact Assessment Act, which includes a groundbreaking provision requiring gender-based analysis. The government has been ineffective at holding Canadian companies accountable when they violate human rights overseas. Canada’s first-ever Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise was appointed in 2019 but has not been granted the independence or powers of investigation originally promised. Export Development Canada provides billions of dollars to support the oil, gas and mining industries annually. Its new Human Rights Policy is a significant improvement, but still falls short of fulfilling the government’s human rights obligations.
