The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, P.C., M.P. Prime Minister Office of the Prime Minister 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2 Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, Re: Canada’s Emissions Reduction Targets The planet we call home is rapidly warming. Over the last 250 years, global temperatures rose to 1.0°C above pre-industrial levels. Today, the world warms at the alarming rate of 0.1-0.3°C per decade.i Disturbed by this acceleration, the international community came together in 2015 to form the Paris Agreement, pledging to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue “efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”ii We write to you today regarding this global goal. Limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5°C will not fully prevent the negative impacts of climate change,iii but it will reduce the scope and severity of devastation worldwide. As the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (“IPCC”) warns, even a total warming of 2°C will expose hundreds of millions of additional people to water scarcity, heat waves, and lower crop yields, imposing additional burdens on governments to respond to these challenges and protect vulnerable populations.iv As a signatory to the Paris Agreement, Canada is obliged to prepare a Nationally Determined Contribution (“NDC”) declaring its emissions reduction target, and “pursue domestic mitigation measures” to work to achieve its NDC.v The Paris Agreement also calls for each state’s NDC to “reflect its highest possible ambition... [as well as] its common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities”.vi This agreement is a noble appeal, but it lacks the authority to enforce its directions. States’ targets are not required to align with global pathways to limit warming to 1.5°C. Further, national targets do not need to represent a proportionate or fair share of the global reductions required under such pathways. In short, a country can set its target as it wishes, and there is no international legal obligation to achieve it. Canada’s 2030 emissions reduction target, created by former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s administration in 2015, calls for Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced to 30% below 2005 levels.vii As this target is not enshrined into any domestic legislation, it remains a non- binding commitment. Although Canada does not have a 2050 emissions reduction target, we applaud the federal party’s recent election promise to introduce a net-zero 2050 emissions reduction target and legally-binding five-year interim targets to work towards this goal.viii We also appreciate the federal efforts taken to reduce emissions over the last four years, including the adoption of the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change and dedicated work to enact a price on carbon pollution across Canada,ix the commitment to phase-out coal-fired electricity,x and new regulations to reduce methane emissions.xi 1 Despite these undertakings, however, Canada is not on track to meet its 2030 target. Projecting two possible policy trajectories, Environment and Climate Change Canada predicts that Canada’s emissions in 2030 will exceed our emissions target by approximately 93 or 178 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.xii An additional 93 megatonnes, however, is more than all of Quebec’s emissions in 2017.xiii Canada, alongside South Korea and Australia, are the G20 members furthest from meeting their 2030 targets.xiv As Canadians who study or teach law, we understand the role of legislation to inform and justify government action. For this reason, we call on Canada to legislate its emissions reduction targets and create binding domestic obligations to meet these targets. Further, we call for Canada to adopt 2030 and 2050 emissions reduction targets that comply with limiting global warming to 1.5°C. Specifically, we urge the Canadian government to: 1) Strengthen Canada’s 2030 Target to Reduce Emissions By 55% Below 2005 levels To limit warming to 1.5°C, the IPCC calls for global emissions to be reduced by 2030 to 45% below 2010 levels, and reach global net-zero emissions by mid-century.xv The IPCC foretells that merely seeking to increase the scale and ambition of global efforts after 2030, and carrying out existing national policies in the meantime, will ensure global warming of more than 1.5°C.xvi Each state could simply call for a 45% reduction of emissions below 2010 levels. (In Canada, such a target would be equivalent to calling for a 48% reduction below 2005 levels—a marked increase from Canada’s present target.xvii) However, this approach would unduly burden many states, and ignore the fact that a handful of countries, including Canada, are both disproportionately responsible for the emissions in our atmosphere and more financially capable to undertake the efforts needed to reduce emissions. Canada is responsible for 1.7-1.8% of the cumulative emissions in our atmosphere,xviii and is the 10th highest-emitting state today.xix Its per capita emissions are more than 2.5 times the G20 average, and its GDP per capita is more than double the G20 average.xx Whether fairness is defined by assessing states’ historical responsibility, present emissions, or capability, Canada’s “fair share” of emissions reduction is certainly more than an equal state or per-capita allocation. Climate Action Tracker, who considers states’ fair emissions reduction targets using several equity lenses (including responsibility and capability), suggests that Canada’s fair emissions reduction target is 55% below 2005 levels by 2030.xxi 2) Introduce and Legislate a Net-Zero 2050 Emissions Reduction Target A net-zero 2050 target would align Canada with the 65+ other countries who have already committed to net-zero emissions by the year 2050 (at the latest).xxii Several of these states have passed legislation to bind these targets, including the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Sweden, Scotland, and most recently, New Zealand.xxiii 2 3) Put forward legally-binding five-year reduction targets to marshal a path towards a 2050 target Short and medium-term milestone targets help guide mitigation efforts towards a long-term reduction target. While some countries have legislated interim emissions reduction targets, other jurisdictions have, alternatively or additionally, legislated carbon budgets. For instance, the UK’s Climate Change Act requires mandatory economy-wide five-year carbon budgets.xxiv Denmark’s newly-elected Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has also pledged to introduce legislation with binding sub-targets and long-term targets.xxv Scotland’s Climate Change Act sets annual carbon budgets and contains interim targets for the years 2020, 2030, and 2040,xxvi and Sweden has also adopted interim targets for the years 2020, 2030, and 2040.xxvii We encourage Canada to learn from these efforts and develop and legislate interim reduction targets and/or carbon budgets. Climate Emergency Warrants Heightened Climate Action In June 2019 the federal government declared a climate emergency, and today more than 400 Canadian municipalities have similarly declared such emergencies.xxviii We also call attention to the federal government’s recent usage of the “national emergency” branch of the Peace, Order and Good Government (“POGG”) power to establish a federal carbon pricing system, which the David Suzuki Foundation considers to be a response to the “risk that Canada will miss the tight deadline to fulfill” its Paris Agreement commitments.xxix Given that the G20 members are together responsible for 80 percent of global annual GHG emissions,xxx these states’ actions will dictate the success of the Paris Agreement. Yet the Climate Change Performance Index, which ranks the climate action of high-emitting countries, placed Canada 54th out of 60 in 2019.xxxi We know that Canada can and must do better. In 2018, Canada noted its commitment to exploring “the possibilities for stepping up our ambition.”xxxii We urge Canada to step up its ambition and set out a more stringent 2030 emissions reduction target, establish a net-zero 2050 emissions target, and commit to legislating these targets in the upcoming Speech from the Throne. As states are presently invited to update their NDCs prior to 2020,xxxiii we also suggest that Canada formalize its commitment to establish these targets by updating its NDC accordingly. This would demonstrate to the world that Canada understands both the urgency and scale of effort required to address this climate emergency, and is willing to do its part to limit further global warming. Sincerely, 456 Law Student & Faculty Member Signatories from 18 Canadian law schools (Table 1) 3 Cc. The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Environment & Climate Change Canada Table 1- List of Law Student & Faculty Member Signatories Year of Law School or Name Faculty Position Institution Christie McLeod 4L (joint degree) Osgoode Hall Law School Paul Guglielmo 3L Osgoode Hall Law School Annalise Beube 3L Osgoode Hall Law School Edith Barabash 2L Osgoode Hall Law School Hasan Mehedi LLM Osgoode Hall Law School Luther Kadima 3L Osgoode Hall Law School Nora Parker 3L Osgoode Hall Law School Lauren McClanaghan 3L Osgoode Hall Law School Samara Friszman 2L Osgoode Hall Law School Emma Hobbs 3L Peter A. Allard School of Law Rebecca Gill 2L Osgoode Hall Law School Grace Hermansen 2L Osgoode Hall Law School Patrick McCaugherty 2L Osgoode Hall Law School Thompson Rivers University Faculty Matthew Wray 3L of Law Jenny YC Lee 2L University of Victoria Faculty of Law Alexandra Chapman LLM Peter A. Allard School of Law Isabel Davila Pereira 3L Osgoode Hall Law School Abiramy Uthirakumaran 2L Osgoode Hall Law School Adam Lee 3L Osgoode Hall Law School Sally Hart 2L Peter A.