CBC In Depth
INDEPTH: BUDGET 2005
Environment
CBC News Online | Updated April 27, 2005

[Note: On April 26, the Liberals and New Democrats reached an agreement-in-principle that the Liberal minority government will make changes to its 2005 budget in exchange for NDP support. The changes can be found here.]

$5B to fight climate change

budget
$5 billion over the next five years for the fight against climate change.
A week after the Kyoto Protocol on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions came into effect, the federal government promised $5 billion over the next five years for the fight against climate change.

About $3 billion of the cash is new money.

The biggest chunk of the money – about $1 billion over half a decade – will go into a Clean Fund, Finance Minister Ralph Goodale said in his budget address Wednesday.

[Note: Under the Liberal-NDP deal, the budget will include another $900 million for the environment, with one more cent of the federal gas tax going to public transit. A summary of the budget changes can be found here.]

The money will go to buying emission reductions from Canadians, industry and projects in other countries involving Canadian companies.

The Kyoto Protocol came into force last week. Under the agreement, Canada is committed to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 to 30 per cent between 2008 and 2012.

budget
"No decree will solve climate change," Goodale said.

"There are no short-term answers. But to fight it, this government will use every available tool," he said.

Other environmental spending announced Wednesday includes $225 million to expand the EnerGuide retrofit incentive program for houses. Ottawa said the money, which will flow over five years, would bump the total number of retrofits across the country to 500,000 homes by 2010.

The federal government has also reserved $200 million to stimulate the use of wind power to generate electricity.

About $300 million will go to the Green Municipal Fund, which is run by the Canadian Federation of Municipalities. The fund supports projects such as deep water-cooling systems for commercial buildings, and more efficient water and sewage treatment facilities.



^TOP
MENU

MAIN PAGE: HIGHLIGHTS LIBERAL-NDP BUDGET DEAL
ISSUES: Environment Health care Child Care Cities Business Personal finance Defence Sports Other

FINANCE DEPARTMENT DOCUMENTS: Budget in-brief [pdf] Budget speech [pdf] Budget plan [pdf] Full budget documents
REACTION: Quotes Letters
MEDIA: Audio/Video
COLUMNS: Keith Boag: A budget for all reasons Christopher Waddell: The budget's political traps
INTERACTIVE: BUDGET BALANCING ACT
How would you spend the federal surplus? (Flash)
RELATED: Federal Budget 2004 Federal Budget 2003

MORE:
Print this page

Send a comment

Indepth Index