Ex-climate adviser says pipeline deal conflicts with net-zero target
Former Net-Zero Advisory Body co-chair Simon Donner tells Parliament the Alberta deal isn't compatible with 2050 climate goals.
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Canada's former top climate adviser said the pipeline deal Ottawa signed with Alberta this May is incompatible with the government's net-zero target.
"You can't be saying these deals are still compatible with net-zero by 2050. They're not. The deal is not compatible with it," Simon Donner, former co-chair of the Net-Zero Advisory Body, testified before the House of Commons environment committee on Tuesday. "Just be honest with Canadians about this. If you are going to pass deals like this, be honest about the implications."
Donner, a climate scientist at the University of British Columbia, is not alone in questioning the Carney government's commitment to net-zero emissions. The Canadian Climate Institute conducted its own modelling into the impact of the new deal on carbon pricing. Under the agreement, the price rises to $130 per tonne by 2040—a weakening and delay of the original $170 per tonne by 2030 target. Climate policy experts found that despite Alberta's commitment to keep increasing carbon pricing, it won't be sufficient to change the province and Canada's emissions trajectory.
The Net-Zero Advisory Body was set up in 2022 as an independent group meant to advise the government on achieving climate targets. Donner and co-founder Catherine Abreu both resigned in December. Abreu said she and others in the climate space have grown despondent with Prime Minister Mark Carney, who championed climate action as central banker and while working for the United Nations.
"I think many of us are experiencing that disappointment," Abreu told the environment committee. "The fact that we are not transitioning our economy for the future really worries me."
Under Carney, the two said, the body was not consulted on key changes to Canada's emissions plan. As an independent body, NZAB had no staff nor control over its own budget, which slowed research. Donner noted the Prime Minister's Office never met with NZAB or sought its advice, though he acknowledged there was no obligation to do so. "But I find it highly strange they wouldn't be interested."