N.B. Businesses Want Action On Climate Change, But They Need More Policy Clarity
Alex LeBlanc is the president and CEO of the New Brunswick Business Council.
At the New Brunswick Business Council, we firmly believe that climate change is a real and meaningful threat to our planet and collective future. Our mission as an organization is to build a competitive and growing economy in New Brunswick that creates opportunities for all who live, work, and invest here.
Climate change threatens tour environment, economy, and society.
In January, I spoke on behalf of the Business Council, representing many of New Brunswick’s top companies, to the New Brunswick Legislature’s Standing Committee on Climate Change and Environmental Stewardship.
My message was clear: action must be taken.
New Brunswick, and every other province, state, and nation around the world, must take immediate climate action to limit the damage we are doing to our planet. We must all do our part to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and take other meaningful steps to reduce and offset our environmental impact.
A recent report from the consulting firm McKinsey found that responding to climate change will require the fundamental transformation of the global economy and an annual investment of $9.2-trillion dollars – yes, trillion – each year, for decades to come.
The report points out “solving the net-zero equation cannot be divorced from pursuing economic development and inclusive growth. It would require a careful balancing of the shorter-term risks of poorly prepared or uncoordinated action with the longer-term risks of insufficient or delayed action”.
While we take urgent and thoughtful action, we must apply a competitiveness and economic lens to the policies that shape our response to the threat of climate change. We must also take appropriate steps to ensure there is a managed transition to a low-carbon economy, where cost competitiveness, taxes, investment incentives, and other supports are competitive with other jurisdictions in Canada and internationally.
As the McKinsey report concludes, many of the costs will be front-end loaded, highlighting the need for effective government supports to ensure both businesses and consumers can effectively make this transition.
This does not mean we in New Brunswick should delay our policies and wait for other, larger provinces to develop new policies first. Indeed, the Business Council believes that there will be a cost for inaction and lost competitiveness if we do not adapt to this new reality quickly enough.
Business Council members recognize that a growing economy must be balanced with environmental stewardship and sustainability.
In the transition to a low-carbon economy, our competitiveness is not only about preserving our position in traditional industries. It’s also about evolving our existing businesses to compete in the low-carbon economy and pursuing new and emerging opportunities to become producers and exporters of clean solutions, rather than simply consumers.
This is a moment of opportunity for New Brunswick to do good and do well, if we are prepared to seize it.
Members of the New Brunswick Business Council are not waiting for new regulations to take environmental action. The Belledune Port Authority, for example, is taking aggressive steps to define its place in a green economy and contributing to the establishment of Northern New Brunswick as a Green Energy Hub.
Sackville-based Atlantic Industries Limited, which manufactures things like structural plate bridges and corrugated steel pipe and drainage systems, has created a competitive advantage by applying a sustainability and resiliency lens to all their operations.
And McCain Foods, one of the world’s largest food producers, has committed to a 50 percent reduction in their global CO2 emissions and 100 percent renewable energy by 2030. They’ve also committed to making 100 percent of their packaging recyclable, reusable, or compostable by 2025.
This is the kind of environmental leadership taking place right now by New Brunswick businesses. But, of course, there is much more to be done. Businesses understand that sustainability is not simply a corporate social imperative it’s a business imperative that directly impacts their competitiveness and resiliency.
Yet the policy, regulatory, and economic environment that businesses in New Brunswick operate within is not clear when it comes to climate action.
Business Council members and partners have identified challenges, such as the effective measurement of a business’s carbon footprint, limited capital to make investments in cleaner energy and transportation, the lack of provincial government funding support, unknown impacts from federal policies, the need for new expertise in carbon mitigation, and, more broadly, public support for the needed transitional measures.
It is incumbent upon the Government of New Brunswick and Government of Canada to bring forward clear policies and investments that will yield real environmental benefits.
The Business Council proposed recommendations to the Standing Committee on Climate Change and Environmental Stewardship that it believes should be included in the next New Brunswick Climate Action Plan. In summary, they are:
- Set clear targets that are measurable and provide long-term predictability to businesses;
- Make investments to help businesses adapt, support emerging technologies, and build capacity and expertise in government;
- Create the conditions for investment and clean competitiveness by modernizing policies, regulations, and strategies – in partnership with communities, First Nations, and the private sector.
The New Brunswick Business Council believes that addressing climate change must be a priority for the Government of Canada and Government of New Brunswick, and for every New Brunswick business and citizen.
Together, by striking the right approach to policies and regulation, we can mitigate the damage being done to our planet and enable New Brunswick businesses to thrive in the low-carbon economy.
You can read the full text of Mr. LeBlanc’s remarks to the Standing Committee on Climate Change and Environmental Stewardship here.
Huddle publishes commentaries from groups and individuals on important business issues facing the Maritimes. These commentaries do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Huddle. To submit a commentary for consideration, contact editor Mark Leger: [email protected].