Important developments in Canada's road to COP 21 in Paris

As we lead into COP 21 in Paris in a week, there have been many important developments in Canada.

Rachel Notley just released Alberta’s climate strategy putting a price on carbon that is revenue neutral, following the lead of British Columbia’s carbon tax. Two-thirds of coal-generated electricity will be replaced by renewables—primarily wind power—and a cap on oil sands emissions to name only two initiatives.

For the first time in seven years Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has met with provincial and territorial leaders to unify Canada's message on climate change.

Also the Initiative for Equality (IfE) has developed an “International Call to Address Inequalities and Social Justice in Climate Policy.” The statement, developed by IfE activists from every continent, focuses attention on the critically important relationship between climate change and socioeconomic inequalities, and calls on nations and multilateral institutions to make inequality and injustice a central element of the COP21 climate accords and subsequent policies.

We are supporting the call for organizations to endorse the civil society statement “International Call to Address Inequalities and Social Justice in Climate Policy.”

The more informed we all are, at all levels of society, the more we can demand evidence-based decision-making by our elected officials going into the Paris climate talks--to demand bold, decisive and informed climate targets for our future sustainability.