The SCC’s decision will not directly change the approval of specific projects, but the reality is that new carbon-intensive projects will have to consider the price of emissions and whether they see it as a worthwhile investment. This will force project proponents to either do what is necessary to reduce emissions, or projects will be weeded out.
The Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act is not the only law in our legal toolkit that will help ensure climate considerations are accounted for.
In late February, I, along with my colleague Anna McIntosh, were in court fighting to defend the Impact Assessment Act (IAA) and its regulations.
The legislation sets out the factors that determine whether a project’s effects on areas of federal jurisdiction such as fish, oceans, and migratory birds, are in the public interest. The law mandates consideration of Indigenous rights, climate commitments, sustainability, cumulative impacts, and mitigation.
We need to make sure that existing environmental laws, like the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act and Impact Assessment Act, and the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, which is currently making its way through the Parliamentary process, are implemented to their fullest extent if Canada is to get to net-zero by 2050.