By EOS Eco-Energy Staff and Board of Directors
The Government of New Brunswick is working to update its 2016 provincial climate action plan called, Transitioning to a Low-Carbon Economy. The standing committee on climate change and environmental stewardship is hearing presentations from environmental experts, stakeholders, and First Nations representatives to help inform the updated plan. The public is also invited to provide input during a public consultation period from January 24th to February 24th. The new plan is scheduled to be released in summer 2022. The original plan was good, and a lot of work has been accomplished, but there is still a lot more to be done.
EOS Eco-Energy is an award-winning environmental charity and for more than 17 years we have been working collaboratively with individuals, organizations and governments on community-based projects related to energy conservation, efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable community planning, climate change adaptation, and watershed health. We conduct research, community planning, educational campaigns and action projects on the ground. With our work and experiences in mind we have the following recommendations for the updated New Brunswick climate change action plan:
Increase energy efficiency programs and create new incentives
Energy efficiency, along with conserving energy, is the first step to reducing emissions. New Brunswick needs to increase efforts to help low-income residents save energy. The low-income program saw a large spending increase recently, which is great, but we are still far behind the other Maritime provinces when you look at spending per household, resulting in a number of New Brunswickers living in energy poverty. There should be incentives for deep energy retrofits, building envelope improvements and more insulation rebates. Implementing time of day rates, similar to other provinces, would incentivize building owners to reduce power needs when NB Power is forced to use their most expensive and least green electricity. Low interest, long-term government loans that homeowners can use to finance energy efficiency upgrades to their homes would be very helpful. Furthermore, mandating energy labels when a house is sold would incentivize the market to value energy savings. Finally, we recommend updating the building code in New Brunswick to the most recent version and adopt future building codes in the year they are released. Newer building codes incorporate better energy efficiency measures which make them a key component of the emission reduction equation.
Further enable and support renewable energy
Rooftop solar and wind power are proven energy sources that are taking off around the planet and make much more financial and environmental sense than small modular nuclear reactors (which remain an unproven technology). To increase the uptake of solar, the province should allow municipalities to offer PACE programs (property assessed clean energy), which are very successful in other provinces. This financing would allow more New Brunswick property owners to afford renewable energy projects, financing the cost via a surcharge on their property tax bills. NB Power’s upcoming solar farm in Shediac is an exciting project and we need more of this in New Brunswick. Furthermore, allowing municipalities to own or partner on renewable energy generation and battery storage, such as in Nova Scotiaand PEI, would also increase the uptake of large scale solar and wind farms and achieve much larger emissions reduction while increasing regional resilience. Battery storage is key to further development of wind and solar power, and it is getting better all the time. Provinces such as Quebec are focused on developing efficient, cost-effective battery technology. Various companies are also recycling EV batteries and reusing them for commercial energy storage. There is also opportunity for power customers to invest in or subscribe to solar farms as in BC and Nova Scotia, which could also be done in New Brunswick. In addition, any provincial support, financial or otherwise, provided to the fossil fuel industry in any form should be transferred as quickly as possible to the renewable energy industry. Finally, supporting a province-wide network and collaboration to advance the renewable energy industry and provide public outreach such as Renewables NB with multi-year funding would help expand the uptake of renewables across the province.
Increase attention and spending on adaptation
The original plan was short on adaptation measures for communities and residents so there is lots of opportunity for action. While many municipal governments and communities have adaptation plans, the province would benefit from a province-wide climate impact risk assessment and adaptation plan (like the upcoming federal adaptation plan). Creating a public advisory committee and applying a climate lens to all operations, similar to what the Town of Sackville and other municipalities are now doing, would help engage stakeholders and mainstream climate considerations across all departments. The province should also continue to support communities to update their climate change action plans. Adaptation measures will be very expensive, but inaction will be even more costly. So, spending on adaptation, especially to assist municipalities with critical large infrastructure projects such as at-risk sewage lagoons and bridges, stormwater mitigation, erosion issues, etc. is needed as small municipalities, like ours in the Memramcook-Tantramar region, cannot be expected to fully foot the bill. Small municipalities also need help to increase their capacity to adapt to climate change. EOS helps as much as we can, but there is much more to do. Natural infrastructure, such as naturalised stormwater ponds, green roofs, urban forests, salt marsh restoration, natural shoreline restoration, etc. should also be prioritized for their cost-effectiveness and multiple environmental benefits. With intensifying storms occurring more often, flooding, both coastal and freshwater, is a number one concern across the province and measures are needed to help New Brunswickers adapt. EOS recommends no new developments in flood risk zones and beginning to plan for managed retreat from low-lying coastal areas. Furthermore, the provincial government could offer an adaptation incentive program to provide rebates for sump pumps (with battery backup), backwater valves (to prevent sewage backup), proper landscape grading, rain gardens, natural shoreline plantings, etc. Such a program could also help to raise awareness about adaptation opportunities and benefits. Finally, the province must not forget the impacts on human health and wellbeing and continue to research these and support actions to build resilience.
Implementing the above policies and programs at the provincial level (along with multi-year funding for environmental non-profits engaged in climate work) would help EOS tremendously in the work that we do and enable New Brunswickers to further reduce their emissions, as we aim for net-zero, and adapt more effectively to the impacts of our changing climate. EOS encourages the public to submit input to the consultation process by visiting the Government of New Brunswick website.
