Climate Action Network Reacts to Environmental Assessment Announcement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VANCOUVER – Catherine Abreu, Executive Director of Climate Action Network – Réseau action climat (CAN-Rac) Canada, reacts to the environmental assessment and National Energy Board review processes launched yesterday:

“It is encouraging to see government kickstart the revitalization of Canada’s environmental assessment (EA) process. Canadians deserve a system they can trust to genuinely engage them while credibly reviewing projects that impact their communities using the best available expertise and evidence.

An EA process that takes climate change seriously is essential for CAN-Rac and its members to have confidence in project reviews moving forward. Along with our ecological security, Canada’s economic prosperity depends on the federal government putting international climate commitments at the core of Canada’s EA laws. Failing to do so will expose Canada to the escalating risk of stranded assets – expensive investments in projects that quickly stop making money as the world moves toward climate safety.

We are counting on government to seize this singular opportunity to build a modern EA system that includes mechanisms to assess the cumulative impacts of projects over time. Large infrastructure assets do not operate in isolation, and projects built today will define the landscape we work in for decades to come. Rebuilding public trust in Canada’s EA laws requires dismantling our current system, which ignores upstream and downstream effects as well as compatibility with long-term policy.”

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Contact:

Catherine Abreu
Executive Director
Climate Action Network – Réseau action climat Canada
902 412 8953

Background:

Environmental Groups Call for Climate Test