Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. It's a pleasure for me to be here to speak on this very important issue.
As we all know, one of the most pressing environmental issues Canadians currently face is climate change. What I want to do today is update you on the progress the Government of Canada is making to address this issue.
Responding to climate change is about one thing; it's about choices. Do we carry on with business as usual? If we do, Canada will be left behind as the world searches for innovative ways to address climate change.
Do we continue to live our day-to-day lives the same way? If we do, the Canada we leave behind will be diminished environmentally, socially, and economically.
Do we continue to think that there's little we can do about issues that are as complicated as climate change? If we do, we underestimate ourselves. We underestimate the power of individual decisions and actions. We underestimate the change that can result if we put that familiar credo--think globally, act locally--to work. The decisions and choices we make today will dramatically shape our world in the years to come.
Mr. Chairman, I'm confident we're on a track to make the right choices, and the Government of Canada has laid out a detailed plan, the climate change plan for Canada, to make those choices a reality.
Our plan is founded on building new avenues to help us work together--provinces, territories, municipalities, aboriginal communities, industry partners, non-governmental organizations, and individuals--because we all need to be pulling in the same direction. Our plan will provide individual Canadians with the tools and information they need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in their daily lives.
Our plan will invest in the new, innovative changes and innovative technologies Canada and the world will need to effectively address climate change, new technologies that will bring new economic opportunities to our country. Our plan, Mr. Chairman, will show that the Government of Canada is leading by example and is reaching well beyond the reduction targets set out in the Kyoto Protocol.
Finally, our plan is based on clear guidelines. Our economy cannot be put at risk and no region will bear an unfair burden. We must provide a favourable investment climate.
Over the past year we've seen three important milestones in our efforts. In November last year we released our “Climate Change Plan for Canada”. On December 17 we ratified the Kyoto Protocol. In our 2003 budget we dedicated $2 billion to help implement Canada's plan. Only yesterday Minister Anderson and I tabled a comprehensive report on climate change in the House of Commons, the first comprehensive report on the Government of Canada's investment in climate change from 1997 to 2002. This report is our first effort to provide a measure of overall accounting and it established a precedent for future reporting. I'm pleased to share this report with you this morning, and I look forward to documenting our progress and successes in future climate change reports.
Mr. Chairman, I'm here today to talk about that progress and about new developments in a number of climate change areas. The potential economic and environmental benefits of reacting to climate change are enormous. Acting now makes more than just environmental sense, it makes good economic sense. It means new business opportunities, new markets, and new jobs. The global market for environmental products, technologies, and services is estimated to be $1 trillion a year, with exceptional growth potential. Those countries and those companies that develop the best technologies will find themselves in an enviable economic position in the years to come. Our investments are paying dividends, dividends that will continue to multiply in the future.
As you may be aware, my cabinet colleagues and I have been meeting to discuss how to best allocate the resources identified in the budget to reach our goal.
Our approach is one of partnerships. Every aspect of our climate change plan ultimately requires cooperation with our partners at all levels, and this is the key message we need to reinforce. Our plan wasn't developed in a Government of Canada vacuum; it's the result of years of listening to Canadians, provinces, industries, and other groups. It responds to the extensive consultations we've had. No other country in the world has put such an emphasis on consultation.
All of our partners have acknowledged that we need to take action on climate change now. Essentially, we're inviting our partners to bring their ideas forward, to invest with us, to develop new technologies, and to get programs up and running that will help individuals do their part. These programs will show the world that sustainable development that puts together our environmental, social, and economic concerns is not only possible but also the road to future prosperity.
Mr. Chairman, that being said, I'll now go through some key areas in addressing climate change.
New technologies will be fundamentally to responding to climate change. Developing new technologies isn't an overnight proposition, it requires time, money, and patience. It requires learning from our mistakes and turning them into long-term successes.
Mr. Chairman, we're pursuing a wide range of new climate change technologies: hydrogen and fuel cells, solar power, wind power, carbon dioxide capture and storage, biomass, and alternative transportation fuels. For example, Natural Resources Canada and other Government of Canada organizations have for more than twenty years supported the development of Canada's hydrogen and fuel cell industry.
Fuel cells are on the cusp of revolutionizing how we produce power. The long-term potential seems almost limitless. Our investments in hydrogen and fuel cells are paying dividends, dividends that will continue to multiply in the future. Canadian companies like Ballard, Hydrogenics, Stuart Energy, and Dynetek, to name only a few, are leading the way.
NRCan first started working with Ballard in the early 1980s. Today Ballard's fuel cell technology is being used in a variety of ways. The Ford fuel cell vehicle and the Citaro bus are just a few examples. They were both on display at the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Conference in Vancouver last weekend, which I attended.
We've also supported Dynetek for more than a decade. Today its hydrogen storage cylinders are used in a number of vehicles.
We've supported Stuart Energy Systems as it created Canada's first hydrogen refuelling station, established in Vancouver. Today Stuart is a recognized international leader.
We've worked with Hydrogenics since it opened in 1995. Today, after only seven years, it is delivering clean energy solutions for the commercial market across the transportation, stationary, and portable power spectrum.
Just last Sunday I had the privilege of announcing over $14 million in new funding to support three important hydrogen fuel cell projects. Canada is leading the way in fuel cell technology, and we intend to reinforce this position with this and other important promising technologies. That's why we boosted our support for Sustainable Development Technology Canada by $250 million, bringing our total investment in SDTC to $350 million.
Mr. Chairman, emerging renewable energy sources such as wind power and related technologies are a key part of our climate change strategy. The Government of Canada has been investing in renewable energy sources for many years, having put $350 million towards encouraging markets for renewable energy sources since 1997. We're investing $260 million of this investment for renewable energy in the wind power production incentive, which will increase the amount of wind power available in Canada by 500%.
Our plan calls for 10% of the nation's new electricity generation to come from emerging renewable sources, and we have committed to purchasing at least 20% of our electricity for federal operations from green power sources.
Fossil fuels, however, will remain a major part of our energy mix for decades to come. We are committed to finding ways to produce and use these fuels as cleanly and efficiently as possible. We're working to capture CO2 and store it underground. The Government of Canada has been investing in this area for many years. Developing the innovative technologies is the key and is worth the effort.
Mr. Chairman, the large industrial emitters, the oil and gas, electricity, and mining and manufacturing sectors account for about half of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. They are vitally important to our economy and crucial in our response to climate change.
Our approach to the large industrial emitters was set out in the climate change plan for Canada. At its centre are negotiated covenants with a regulatory backstop. Our objective will be to minimize the cost of achieving the 55 megatonne emission reduction target. This approach is smart regulation action. We will keep the regulatory backstop as simple and transparent as possible. We will deal with complicated and unusual situations through negotiated covenants.
Since the release of the plan, officials have met with all of the industry associations and with many individual companies. These meetings have provided industry with clarity, and the government's commitment to the 55 megatonne reduction target has been reiterated.
One thing industry has made clear to us is the need for governments to work together to minimize the compliance burden. To meet this objective federal officials have met a number of times with their provincial counterparts. They are working on developing a joint system for measurement, reporting, and verification that will provide us with the data we need while ensuring that business is not faced with an unreasonable compliance cost. These actions, Mr. Chairman, are helping ensure that we continue to strike a balance between a vibrant, flourishing economy and our climate change objectives.
Mr. Chairman, let me turn to Canada's forests and their role in helping us address climate change. Forests can be carbon sinks, effectively absorbing CO2, and our Kyoto partners have recognized this fact. Canada's forests already play a role in lowering greenhouse gas emissions. For example, a single tree can absorb many tonnes of carbon dioxide during its lifetime.
I'm particularly excited by the possibilities presented by afforestation, planting trees on marginal farmland and in other suitable areas. Fast-growing, high-yield forest plantations can contribute to our climate change targets through their use as sinks. These plantations could increase the rate of carbon storage in the first commitment period, with even greater results as trees mature in subsequent periods. I continue to discuss this with my provincial and territorial colleagues so we can have a coordinated approach going forward.
To deal with climate change, Mr. Chairman, we all need to take action, companies of all sizes, governments at all levels, and individual Canadians. The climate change plan for Canada outlines a number of areas where we will encourage action: expanding the Canadian industry program for energy conservation to help small and medium-sized enterprises become more energy efficient; establishing a goal for 25% of new buildings to be above the Model National Energy Code for Buildings by 2010; reducing our emissions by 31% below 1990 levels by 2010, and we have already cut them by 21%; and asking Canadians to cut their personal greenhouse gas emissions on average by one tonne. That means becoming more energy-efficient, and we're committed to helping Canadians to do this.
In conclusion, I can say we have a clear and detailed strategy to meet our climate change goal and create an economic advantage for Canada so we can work with our partners, so we can be flexible, and so we can take advantage of new opportunities and technologies. We're already working with the provinces, territories, and other stakeholders on energy efficiency, technology development, and renewables. That work will continue as we move forward.
The climate change plan for Canada is ambitious but achievable. It points Canada in a direction that will take us to an even brighter future. Years from now Canadians will look back and see that we took a step in the right direction. This is a responsibility we must fulfill for the generations to come so our children and our children's children enjoy the same opportunities we do. It's a responsibility we cannot shirk.
I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I would welcome any questions the committee might have at this time.
But before I do that, let me just say that I attended the recent hydrogen convention and I was impressed with the Canadian companies there, impressed with what they had accomplished. I had the opportunity myself to drive a fuel cell vehicle fuelled by hydrogen. It shows it can be done; the technology is there. The question is, can it be done economically to compete within the current industry? There's a huge effort by both the auto industry and technology companies to bring the cost down to where fuel cells can be economically competitive and commercially viable. I think the show that was done in Vancouver was very interesting and it displayed Canada's lead in the whole area of fuel cell technology.
Thank you very much.