Report shows Nova Scotia's progress in fighting climate change — and how much work remains

For all the progress his government has made in the last year, Environment Minister Tim Halman acknowledges there's plenty of work still to do if Nova Scotia is going to meet its 2030 legislated targets to combat climate change.

"We are on the path to have a more healthy, clean and sustainable future," he said in an interview Monday.

Halman made the comments on the day his government released its annual progress report toward achieving 68 goals on things like green energy generation, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, addressing environmental racism and protecting communities that are most susceptible to the effects of climate change.

The goals include reducing emissions by 53 per cent below 2005 levels, producing 80 per cent of the province's electricity from renewable sources and ending the use of coal-fired power plants to generate electricity, all by 2030.

By Halman's own admission, that work won't be easy. The province has yet to close a single coal plant, although the minister expects progress will come when the eight wind projects approved in the last six months become operational over the next two years.

"That is going to power over 200,000 residents' homes," he said.

"Is it going to be an easy transition? It's going to be challenging. We know that. We have to do this in a manageable, affordable way for ratepayers and this is a government that's determined to do that."

Nova Scotians have lived through the realities of climate change in the last 10 months with post-tropical storm Fiona, record-setting wildfires and fatal floods. Halman said changes are needed to confront the fact that modelling shows such events aren't going away.

"We know in this decade flooding is going to be an issue," he said, adding that extreme heat will also be a hazard that has to be dealt with. "So therefore, the climate plan responds to that science."

The province is preparing to hire for two new positions related to flood response and storm water management, with the intention of helping the provincial and municipal governments prepare for and adapt to more frequent and more intense weather events.

Work is also being done to make a plan by the end of the year to outline how the government will reach the target of protecting 20 per cent of the province's land and water area. That number currently sits at 13.2 per cent.

Marla MacLeod, director of programs with the Ecology Action Centre, said she was pleased to see the level of detail in the report and a status update on each of the 68 goals. She also welcomes efforts to address environmental racism, get more young people involved through a youth climate council and the ongoing efforts to expand active transportation throughout the province.

But MacLeod said it's also clear how much work remains to address what are monumental challenges that often intermingle with a variety of social issues, such as housing and health care.

A need for less 'squabbling'

In particular, MacLeod wants to see better collaboration among all levels of government and less "squabbling," especially when it comes to solving the biggest challenges such as phasing out coal and greening the electricity grid.

"There is no time to waste," she said.

Despite the ongoing back and forth between the province and Ottawa, MacLeod said the Atlantic Loop — the project that would upgrade transmission lines between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and allow for the flow of hydro power from Quebec and Labrador into the Maritimes — remains the best option to decarbonize the grid and build a more resilient system.

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"It's the answer to that question of what happens when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow," she said in an interview. "So we need to be working with our neighbouring provinces to make that happen."

MacLeod welcomes the provincial government's efforts to expand the number of wind projects in the province, but she remains concerned about where some of those projects are being located.

At a time when the province is also trying to protect more land, she said it is important that wind farms are not being built in locations that are environmentally fragile and worthy of protection.

"To my mind, it's not one or the other: we need to be doing both."

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