Requested by Mike Schreiner and the Ontario Greens in 2019.
Bracebridge, Ontario – December 8, 2021
“The devastating Bracebridge floods of 2019, as well as extreme weather events this year across the country remind us of the human and financial cost of inaction on climate pollution. This report highlights what we already know, which is that we are going to pay the costs of climate change one way or another.
Ontario Greens called for this report in 2019 to be transparent with the people of Ontario about the real costs of the climate emergency. Ontarians deserve honesty about the cost of the climate crisis and just how much its going to cost to deal with it.
It’s clear: the cost of inaction far exceeds the cost of climate action. The FAO estimates the impact of extreme rainfall and heat will cost $6 billion to maintain public buildings and facilities over the rest of the decade.
Instead of cleaning up climate pollution, our government wants to make it worse. It is absurd that Doug Ford wants to pump an additional $6 billion into the unnecessary Highway 413, which will only increase the amount of traffic congestion on the highways coming into Parry Sound and Muskoka while increasing climate pollution.
We need to invest that $6 billion into real solutions to prepare Ontario’s transportation infrastructure for the future. That includes bringing back an efficient and reliable Northanlander passenger rail service.”
The Ontario Greens Climate Plan to reach net-zero by 2045.
● create a $2 billion-per-year Climate Adaptation Fund to prepare the municipal
and provincial infrastructure to withstand our changing climate.
● invest in nature-based solutions to protect the people and places we love, and
allocate at least 15% of infrastructure spending to natural ecosystem features,
like rivers, native plants, and soil.
● work with Indigenous communities to conserve and protect at least 25% of Ontario by 2025, and 30% by 2030.
Find the FAO, Financial Accountability Office, report – here