Creating A Just Transition
This plan will support Ontario businesses in the province and protect existing jobs by spurring innovation and rewarding efficiency, which will make businesses more competitive. It will also create conditions for new sectors to emerge and new businesses to thrive. As Ontario transitions to a low-carbon economy, it will build on its existing workforce in areas from clean-tech to design, to engineering, transportation, manufacturing, construction and more. The economy will require skilled workers like tradespeople, architects and inspectors who are able to design, install and operate low-carbon-building technologies.
To prepare the workforce to meet these needs, Ontario will invest in training and skills development specific to the low-carbon economy, including through training programs for Indigenous workers.
States Are Laying A Road Map For Climate Leadership
The United States and the world face an urgent crisisone that requires American leadership at home and abroad. But while the Trump administration is utterly failing in the task due to incompetence, indifference, corruption, or all three, Americas state and local governments are rising to the challenge and showing what leadership should look like.
Just as this has been true in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic,1 so too does it apply when comparing federal and state leadership in confronting the climate crisis.
Under the Trump administration, U.S. federal climate policy is moving in precisely the wrong direction. Driven by corporate and fossil fuel interests that are replete among his Cabinet and top donors, President Donald Trump has been undermining protections against air pollution,2 causing direct harm to clean energy industries and jobs,3 abandoning the Paris climate agreement,4 and putting the profits of fossil fuel corporations over the health of people and the planet.5
Appendix : Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Agriculture
This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.
Agriculture causes 9% of the UKs greenhouse gas emissions. This is made up of:
- nitrous oxide , which is produced by the use of synthetic and organic fertilisers
- methane , which is created through the digestion processes in livestock animals and the production and use of manure and slurry
- carbon dioxide from energy used for fuel and heating
Read more about agricultural GHGs in section 2.2 of Greenhouse gas emission projections for UK agriculture to 2030.
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Government Strategies To Decrease The Production Of Carbon Emissions
Through Government authority, policies can ensure that reducing carbon emissions is a matter of law and all within the UK must comply. Some of the objectives set out by the Government include reducing the production of greenhouse gases through carbon budgets and carbon limits, utilisation of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, and using carbon values to ensure that project and policy appraisals account for their climate change impacts.
To 2015 Government Policy: Greenhouse Gas Emissions
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: .
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-greenhouse-gas-emissions/2010-to-2015-government-policy-greenhouse-gas-emissions
This is a copy of a document that stated a policy of the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government.The previous URL of this page was .Current policies can be found at the GOV.UK policies list.
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Federal Climate Policy Toolkit
This explainer introduces RFFs Federal Climate Policy Toolkit, which describes in detail the policy tools the US federal government can use to reduce emissions and atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. Topics covered in the series include policy tools for the power sector, the transportation sector, the industrial sector, and more.
Developing Programs: Epact And Climate Action Plans
The Energy Policy Act of 1992 is the principal statutory basis for programs that constitute the U.S. response to the UNFCCC.10 Programs developed pursuant to EPACT, including appliance energy efficiency standards and updated building codes, are discussed below. Primarily crafted as part of an energy policy response to the Persian Gulf War of 1991, its energy conservation, renewable energy, and other titles were also seen as having a beneficial effect on global climate change concerns being debated at that time in international circles. In its 1992 submission to the UNFCCC, the George H. W. Bush Administration listed 11 different titles of EPACT as “extremely important” to its overall strategy of reducing greenhouse gases.11
Indeed, EPACT’s authors anticipated that it would help stabilize or even reduce emissions of greenhouse gases at little cost, in line with the 1991 NAS report. As stated by the House report:
The committee expects that, if fully implemented, H.R. 776 will result in a substantial reduction in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions relative to forecasted levels. The bulk of these reductions result from the programs that will demonstrate and transfer advanced clean coal and renewable technologies abroad, and from the domestic energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives. The provisions on electric utilities, alternative fuels and coalbed methane are also significant.12
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Appendix : Eu Emissions Trading System
This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.
The EU ETS is the largest multi-country, multi-sector greenhouse gas emissions trading system in the world. It is central to the EU meeting its 20% emissions reduction target by 2020. Find out more about how the EU ETS works.
The EU ETS covers around 11,000 energy-intensive industrial installations throughout Europe including power stations, refineries and large manufacturing plants.
The scheme was expanded to the aviation industry on 1 January 2012.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trends
Policies to reduce the use of carbon-intensive fuels, along with impacts from market forces, have dramatically reduced the amount of coal and petroleum consumed for electricity generation. Total petroleum use statewide, however, has only declined modestly as total gasoline consumption has risen since 1990. Many homes and businesses have switched over from petroleum to natural gas for space heating and other thermal needs. have kept emissions in the buildings sector stable while population has grown 14% between 1990 and 2017.
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Standards And The Governments Deregulation Agenda
The Commonwealth Government has placed a high priority on reducing red tape and unnecessary regulatory burdens on individuals, businesses and community organisations. The government has expressed concern that excessive regulation can deter investment and innovation, and stifle productivity . It has a target of reducing the cost of regulation by $1 billion per year .
The governments approach is to ensure that regulation is never adopted as the default solution, but rather introduced as a means of last resort . The Australian Government Guide to Regulation sets out 10 principles for policy makers, designed to promote better regulation, not more regulation. The first three principles are:
The rest of this chapter explains the Authoritys reasoning for proposing a light vehicle emissions standard.
Regulatory Programs Affecting Emissions Of Greenhouse Gases
As described above, current federal actions that directly address greenhouse gases focus on research, information, and voluntary programs. Each of the Climate Action Reports submitted by the United States to the UNFCCC has included a compilation of the several dozen programs that various administrations have felt are relevant to reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.21 Regulatory measures that have reduced greenhouse gas emissions are a small subset of the total U.S. effort numerically, but are responsible for a proportionally larger share of greenhouse gas emission reductions.22 In general, these regulatory programs were established and implemented primarily for reasons other than climate change concerns. It should be noted that reductions from these programs combined represent about 3% of year 2000 greenhouse gas emissions, and total U.S. emissions have continued to grow: emissions increased approximately 3% between 2000 and 2005 emissions have grown approximately 17% since 1990.23
Table 1. Estimated Greenhouse Gas Reductions from Federal Regulatory Actions
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Program |
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Action Area Buildings And Homes: Reduce Emissions From Fossil
Buildings, and the energy they consume, account for almost one quarter of Ontarios total greenhouse gas pollution. Between 1990 and 2012, buildings sector emissions per square metre improved significantly. However, its total emissions still rose due to population, economic and building floor space growth.
Ontarios buildings sector presents a particular challenge because many existing buildings were built at a time when energy efficiency was less of a priority and climate change was not considered. These buildings rely primarily on fossil fuels for heating.
To date, Ontario has reduced energy use in buildings through conservation programs, stricter requirements in the Building Code, product efficiency regulations, greening electricity, and improved access to energy information for consumers.
Ontario will build upon progress made. The province will continue to reduce greenhouse gas pollution in existing housing and other buildings, and ensure new buildings do not contribute to increased net greenhouse gas pollution. For existing homes, technologies such as geothermal and other home heating solutions in new, highly efficient buildings can also be complemented with natural gas.
Distributional Impacts And Equity
Policies have different effects on different subgroups of people, known as distributional impacts or equity considerations. Increasingly, concerns about the distributional impacts of polices on different individuals, groups, communities, and regions assume a central place in the climate policy conversation. The equity impacts of a policythe relative impacts it has on low-income and non-white communities compared with higher-income and white communitiesare important to consider in policy design and evaluation. Communities of color, low-income communities, and other environmental justice communities are most vulnerable both to the potential costs of policy and to the effects of a changing climate. In addition, many in these communities have not enjoyed the benefits of environmental improvements that have accrued elsewhere.
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Support Municipal And Other Stakeholder Climate Action
Ontario works with many partners to support climate change action. In the 2016 Ontario Budget, a $17-million endowment was announced for the Toronto Atmospheric Fund to innovate, promote and invest in ways to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and improve air quality in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Areas. Ontario will continue to work with partners across the province to fight climate change. This action will:
2.1 Establish a Challenge Fund or Program
The government intends to establish a greenhouse gas pollution reduction challenge fund or program. This fund or program will support emissions reduction projects proposed by municipalities that already have municipal/community energy plans or climate change policies with greenhouse gas pollution inventories in place. Green projects will get matching provincial funding, with a focus on demonstrating the best cost-per-tonne reduction.
2.2 Support community energy planning
Ontario intends to fund the development of Community Energy Plans and Climate Action Plans with greenhouse gas pollution inventories for municipalities and First Nation and Métis communities that currently do not have these plans. These programs would include training and guidance to help communities access energy use data for their community energy planning and mapping.
2.3 Support community energy mapping and platforms
Further Information About The Eu Ets
Read our guides to find out more about the EU ETS:
- Participating in the EU ETS explains how the EU ETS works, allowances, compliance, aviation, small emitters, carbon leakage, new entrants
- EU ETS: carbon markets auctioning and registries details may be accessed here
- EU ETS: legislation and research publications government directions and the legal framework for the scheme may be accessed here
- EU Emissions Trading System strategy and reform: the future of the System – sets out the UK governments vision for the future of the EU ETS and position on the European Commissions legislative proposal for a Market Stability Reserve.
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Support Cycling And Walking
Good cycling infrastructure gets people out of their cars and onto bikes and transit for their daily commute, effectively reducing greenhouse gas pollution while also improving public health. This action will:
3.1 Improve commuter cycling network
The government intends to accelerate and enhance implementation of Ontarios Cycling Strategy and Action Plan and promote cycling. It will do this through:
3.1.1 A better cycling network
Commuter cycling networks will be established across Ontario, targeting routes with high-commuting volume such as between residential communities, major transit stations and employment areas.
3.1.2 Safe cycling
There will be more cycling facilities in urban areas, including grade-separated routes and cycling signals.
3.1.3 Convenient cycling
There will be more bike parking at transit stations and provincially owned, publicly accessible facilities.
3.1.4 Commuter cycling
Ontario will revise provincial road and highway standards to require commuter cycling infrastructure be considered for all road and highway construction projects where it is safe and feasible. Ontario will do the same for major transit corridors.
Help Industries Adopt Low
1.1 Help companies transition to low-carbon
The government intends to help Ontario businesses and industries increase their use of low-carbon technologies. Programs and services will be designed and delivered by the green bank to help reduce greenhouse gas pollution while also reducing costs. Technologies deployed would not only improve energy productivity but also help industrial plants modernize to thrive in a competitive low-carbon economy. The green bank would support both large and smaller emitters.
These actions would be complemented by a modern and efficient approval process that would reduce time and costs involved in implementing low-carbon technologies. For example, the government will work with cement, steel, lime and other high-emitting sectors that can use alternative fuels, to establish a service standard for decisions on alternative fuel applications. The green bank will help businesses and industries identify available government programs and financial supports, achieve economies of scale through project aggregation, calculate returns on investment, and secure financing. The delivery model for the green bank will be finalized in consultation with existing utilities.
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New Approach To Technology Deployment: A Low
Ontario intends to establish a green bank to deploy and finance readily available low-carbon energy technologies to reduce carbon pollution from Ontario buildings. The green bank will help source the most cost-effective low-carbon technologies to reduce emissions in homes and businesses.
Currently, natural gas combustion and carbon-based electricity emissions from buildings represent 24 per cent of Ontarios climate change-causing air pollution. Because of Ontarios growing population and economy, greenhouse gas pollution from its buildings sector continues to rise each year with no end in sight. Without action in this sector, we will lose the fight to reduce carbon emissions across the economy.
Energy conservation programs have benefited many consumers in Ontario, but this ongoing trend of emissions growth calls for bolder action.
Ontario intends to draw on the best practices of two existing models: Efficiency Vermont, the first statewide energy-efficiency utility in the United States, and the New York Green Bank, a state-run financing agency. Both of these initiatives are funded in part from cap and trade proceeds collected in their jurisdictions.
The green bank is intended to:
The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change will ensure the new organization applies a rational and evidence-based approach to program delivery, with carbon emission reductions its priority.
Set Tax And Regulatory Policies That Encourage Innovations
Tax and regulatory policies can play an important role in supporting low-carbon investment decisions. This action will:
2.1 Explore R& D tax credits:
Ontario intends to explore opportunities to create tax credits for research and development in order to encourage investment in Ontario companies focused on low-carbon technologies.
2.2 Consider accelerated capital cost allowance
The province will work with the federal government to explore possible opportunities for accelerated capital cost allowance for technologies that reduce greenhouse gas pollution.
2.3 Regulatory requirements
Regulatory requirements will be updated to support the adoption of innovative industrial technologies and the reduction of greenhouse gas pollution.
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Fact Sheet: President Biden Sets 2030 Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Target Aimed At Creating Good
Building on Past U.S. Leadership, including Efforts by States, Cities, Tribes, and Territories, the New Target Aims at 50-52 Percent Reduction in U.S. Greenhouse Gas Pollution from 2005 Levels in 2030
- Invest in infrastructure and innovation. America must lead the critical industries that produce and deploy the clean technologies that we can harness today and the ones that we will improve and invent tomorrow.
- Fuel an economic recovery that creates jobs. We have the opportunity to fuel an equitable recovery, expand supply chains and bolster manufacturing, create millions of good-paying, union jobs, and build a more sustainable, resilient future.
- Breathe clean air and drink clean water and advance environmental justice. We can improve the health and well-being of our families and communities especially those places too often left out and left behind.
- Make it in America. We can bolster our domestic supply chains and position the U.S. to ship American-made, clean energy products like EV batteries around the world.
MEETING THE MOMENTThe target is consistent with the Presidents goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by no later than 2050 and of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as the science demands. To develop the target, the Administration:
Each policy considered for reducing emissions is also an opportunity to support good jobs and improve equity:
