Climate Change: Canadian Legal and Policy Responses

• Author: Jamie Benidickson
• Pages: 397-417

397

CH AP TE R 19

CLIM ATE CHANGE:

CANADIAN LEGAL AND

POLIC Y RESPONSES

The causes and consequences of clim ate change, as discussed in connec-

tion with the intern ational legal context for Canadian environmental

law, now command attention at all levels of government and through-

out society for the range and complexity of challenges they present.

Even as it has become increasingly urgent to endeavour to mitigate the

factors and processes th at contribute to ongoing climate change, simul-

taneous efforts are e ssential to facilitate adaptation to the impact and

effects of climate change that are already underway. Following a brief

review of climate change in formation, notably the work of the Inter-

governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), this chapter surveys

recent Canadian responses at the federal level, in intergovernmental

settings, in a number of provinces, a nd within the municipal context.

A. CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES

For the benef‌it of policy-makers, experts f rom the physical sciences as-

sociated with the IPCC summ arized their current understand ing of the

contribution of human activity to changing atmospheric conditions:

Global atmospheric concentrat ions of carbon dioxide, methane and

nitrous oxide have incre ased markedly as a result of hum an activities

since 1750 and now far exceed pre-industri al values . . . . The global

increase s in carbon dioxide concentration are due prim arily to fossil

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fuel use and land-u se change, while those of metha ne and nitrous

oxide are primar ily due to agriculture.1

In the view of the same IPCC assessors, “warming of the climate sys-

tem is unequivocal, as is now ev ident from observations or incre ases in

global average air and ocean temperature s, widespread melting of snow

and ice, and rising global average sea level.”2

Long-term changes in cli mate have been observed at the continental

and regional bases and on the ocean basin level as well. These observa-

tions include signif‌icant incre ases in Arctic temperatures and changes

in ice condit ions, pronounced a lteration in pre cipitation level s, shifting

wind patterns a s well as weather extremes such as droughts, heavy pre-

cipitation, heat waves, and more intense tropical cyclones. IPCC scien-

tists have concluded that “most of the obser ved increase in globally aver-

aged temperatures since the mid-twentieth century is very likely due to

the observed increa se in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentration s.”3

Projections based on modelling support t he expectation that

[c]ontinued green house gas emissions at or above cur rent rates would

cause furt her warming and induce many c hanges in the global cli-

mate system duri ng the 21st century that would very like ly be larger

than those ob served during the 20th centur y.4

Examinat ions of climate change and its anticipated sectoral impacts

on agriculture, forestry, and f‌isheries, for example, have al so been con-

ducted from the Canadian perspective.5 On a broad scale, ecosystems

and habitat are transformed by climate change with disr uptive implica-

tions for biodiversity and dependent human populations. Regionally-

focused studies, including studies of the Canadian Arctic, the Prairies

and the Great Lakes have pursued the inquiry in more detail.6 The lat-

ter have often identif‌ied potential social, economic, and health conse-

1 Intergovernment al Panel on Climate Change, Clima te Change 2007: The Physical

Science Basis — Summary for Policymakers (Cambridge: Cambridge Univer sity

Press, 2007) at 2, on line: www.ipcc.ch/pdf /assessment-report /ar4/wg1/ar4-wg1-

spm.pdf. The result s of updated research are a nticipated in 2013.

2 Ibid at 4.

3 Ibid at 8 [emphasis in or iginal].

4 Ibid at 10.

5 Climate Change Impacts an d Adaptation: A Canadian Pers pective (Ottawa: Climate

Change Impact s and Adaptation Program, 2 004).

6 GW Kling et al, Confron ting Climate Change in the Great Lakes R egion: Impacts

on Our Communities an d Ecosystems (Cambridge, MA: Union of Concerne d Sci-

entists, 20 03); S Nickels et al, Unikkaaq atigiit — Putting the Human Face on Cli-

mate Change: Perspectives f rom Inuit in Canada (Ottawa: Inuit Tapiriit Ka natami,

2006). For additional infor mation on a regional basi s, including teaching ma-