Collaborative Proposal Creation
Create, improve and sponsor proposals in a respectful, fully bilingual environment. Grow proposals in the "Hothouse", for promotion to the "Workshop", to become official GPC policy.
- Proposal text
- BE IT RESOLVED that the Green Party of Canada fundamentally challenges the use of carbon offsets as federal policy unless it can be verified scientifically and audited on a case-by-case basis that additional and permanent GHG reductions are achieved that have not already been claimed by another entity and are not associated with significant social or environmental harms. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Party supports bringing the sale of all carbon offsets and credits nationwide under federal regulation and oversight.
- Type of Proposal
- Public policy that the party would represent
- Objective / Benefit
- Since markets for carbon credits/offsets have been largely unregulated, lacking transparency, accountability, and verifiability, a federally regulated credit system with defined compliance protocols may be seen as an improvement toward ensuring that offset schemes truly represent the emissions reductions claimed. However, reliance on this policy tool remains problematic due to: questionable appropriateness of measures that result in temporary carbon sequestration offsetting permanent fossil fuel emissions; emissions trading allows emitters to pay to delay, minimize, or avoid emission reductions, a questionable way to achieve rapid net reductions; predicted emission reductions by the seller often rely on weak forecasting models
- If your proposal replaces an existing policy or policies, which one does it replace?
- The GPC currently does not have a policy on carbon offsets
- List any supporting evidence for your proposal
- https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/sustainability/our-insights/a-blueprint-for-scaling-voluntary-carbon-markets-to-meet-the-climate-challenge https://www.cbc.ca/radio/whatonearth/carbon-offsets-might-be-a-dangerous-distraction-from-more-effective-climate-action-experts-say-1.5946764 https://resources.environment.yale.edu/kotchen/pubs/ssirfinal.pdf https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/pricing-pollution-how-it-will-work/output-based-pricing-system/federal-greenhouse-gas-offset-system.html https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2022-111/page-1.html https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/01/10/the-five-biggest-reasons-carbon-offsetting-schemes-can-fail#:~:text=The%20most%20prominent%20reason%20why,which%20were%20never%20in%20danger.
- Does this proposal affect any particular group and what efforts have been made to consult with the group or groups?
- N/A
- Jurisdiction: Is this proposal under federal jurisdiction?
- Yes
- Please indicate the language the proposal is being submitted in.
- English
This proposal has been accepted because:
This proposal has been accepted because:
93% voted in favour of adopting this motion at the 19th General Meeting
96.3% voted in favor of adopting this motion in the post-GM all member (ratification) vote. This motion is now official GPC policy and will be added to the Membership Approved Policy – Green Book.
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Conversation with Joel Trail
We don't actually need to reinvent the wheel. We just need to use available proven offsets, such as the Quebec-California cap and trade system. By purchasing such carbon credits, it prevents their effective use by others. Does this require federal oversight? Possibly. I'd be more interested in ensuring Canada stops classifying our forestry operations as an automatic national offset, since many are not sustainable and we lose a fair amount of forests to fire we can't or shouldn't prevent entirely. This proposal seems like a solution in search of an unsolved problem. It already has ready-made solutions.
@joel_trail the proposal is about the party having a position on the use of offsets as public policy. It is a growing problem. Some of the background/rationale did not fit due to the word limit. This was addressed in the hothouse phase but did not carry over. We will re-post in the form of a comment again, bear with us. The party does not currently have a policy on carbon offsets. If you think we should support the Quebec or California system, feel free to propose amendments.
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