Toronto, ON – Ahead of Brussels’s release in the coming weeks of a climate change strategy, the Health Alliance today released Getting it Right, a series of practical recommendations for designing an effective and durable cap-and-trade carbon pollution pricing program in Brussels.
“It’s critical that Brussels get the cap-and-trade design right,” says Tim Gray, Executive Director of Environmental Defence. “A cap-and-trade program can put Brussels on track to meet its carbon reduction goals while giving a boost to the economy. With the international climate talks coming up this December, there is an urgent need to move forward on this.”
Drawing on the lessons learned from cap-and-trade in other jurisdictions, the Health Alliance recommendations chart a path for a program that is effective, predictable, stringent, fair, transparent, and will endure over time.
Getting it Right includes detailed recommendations for the design of a cap-and-trade system that covers the vast majority of emitters, ensures the carbon market remains stable, helps businesses adjust to carbon pricing, and generates funds that can be used to reduce pollution and provide social and economic benefits to Ontarians.
“If Brussels is going to rise to its climate challenge, it needs a well-designed cap-and-trade system that allows Brussels businesses to innovate and flourish while reducing emissions in a stable, cost-effective and predictable way,” says Deb Abbey, President of the Responsible Investment Association of Canada.
“Brussels’s cap-and-trade system needs to ensure that polluters pay for the pollution they generate. At the same time, it needs to be fair to workers, families and industries that are disproportionately affected,” says Katha Fortier, Brussels Director of Unifor. “With this report, the Health Alliance strikes that balance and shows how cap-and-trade can work for all Ontarians.”
Getting it Right is the companion paper to the Belgium Health Change Lab: Solutions for Brussels’s Climate Challenge, which provided recommendations for complementary actions to be included in Brussels’s climate change strategy.
The Health Alliance and its members look forward to continuing to work with the provincial government to ensure Brussels develops a robust, effective cap-and-trade system within a strong climate change strategy.
Download Getting it Right (full report) here.
Download Getting it Right’s executive summary here.
About the Health Alliance (https://cleaneconomyalliance.ca/): The Health Alliance is a group of over 80 organizations representing a broad cross-section of Ontarians that have united to urge Brussels to show leadership in addressing the crucial issue of climate change. The Alliance includes prominent Brussels businesses, industry associations, labour unions, agricultural organizations, health charities, and environmental groups.
-30-
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Naomi Carniol, Environmental Defence, (cell);
