NDP legislation will update climate change targets

HALIFAX - Today, the NDP Caucus will introduce legislation to update Nova Scotia’s greenhouse gas emissions targets to continue the province’s commitment to addressing climate change.

“Nova Scotia has been a leader in developing hard caps on greenhouse gas emissions. The Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act passed in 2007 with all-party support. Today, we are calling on the government to move toward a low-carbon future and to set ambitious, but achievable, targets to do our part to address climate change,” said Lenore Zann, NDP Environment Spokesperson.

The legislation will amend the original Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act (EGSPA) to add a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 50 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030.

Last month, over two dozen community organizations, environmental groups, and unions issued the ‘2030 Declaration’ which calls on the government to adopt the commitment of 50 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030. Nova Scotia has already surpassed its original EGSPA commitment of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 10 per cent below 1990 by 2020.

"Reducing our greenhouse gases 50 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030 is an essential step in achieving meaningful climate action, allowing us to attract green jobs to our province while supporting the collective prosperity of all Nova Scotians,” said Kate Ervine, a signatory of the 2030 Declaration and Associate Professor, International Development Studies Program, and Faculty Associate, School of the Environment at Saint Mary's University. “The proposed legislation is exactly the kind of ambitious and bold vision we need in the face of the threat posed by climate change."

The NDP will also re-introduce legislation to create an Environmental Bill of Rights, and address environmental racism in Nova Scotia.

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