Liberals sitting on Green Fund money while sustainability law not in force

HALIFAX - The Liberal government hasn’t announced a single climate investment with the $28 million dollars generated by the first two cap and trade auctions. These proceeds make up the Green Fund, established as part of the provincial cap-and-trade program January 1, 2019.

“The whole point of the Green Fund was to provide funds to help transform our economy for a low carbon future. Shockingly, in the middle of a pandemic, in an era begging for investment in jobs the Liberals have done nothing,” said Claudia Chender, NDP Energy spokesperson. “That money is supposed to go towards projects that will help Nova Scotia meet our climate targets and transition our economy; this could include retrofitting homes, installing solar panels, development of green tech, and supporting new career pathways. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to create jobs and help families with their energy bills, but the Liberals have failed to act.”

At the same time, the Liberals have failed to pass regulations for the Sustainable Development Goals Act (SDGA). This means that Nova Scotia doesn’t currently have any legislated climate goals and the SDGA is not in effect.

“The Liberals gutted the former Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act by removing most of the actual environmental targets when they passed the Sustainable Development Goals Act,” said Gary Burrill, NDP Leader. “The Liberals said this would be fixed in regulations, but those regulations are nowhere to be seen. In the face of the ten-year window provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to maintain global heating within 1.5 degrees, there is something deeply irresponsible about this failure to move forward.”

The NDP Caucus will be asking questions about these issues during today’s meeting of the Natural Resources and Economic Development Committee of the Legislature.