Leadnow and the Climate Reality Project Canada joined together to collect key findings from communities, members of Parliament and highly-engaged Canadians to advance national climate action.
WHY YOU SHOULD TAKE A LOOK:
The research includes contributions from actively engaged Canadians to prioritize their concerns about climate mobilization. The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change launched a public engagement strategy to encourage Canadians to share their ideas on Twitter with the hashtags #CANClimteAction and #ActionClimatCan.
- Participants recognize the opportunity of a fully-renewable energy economy that supports community economic development and helps workers transition.
- Participants understand that fossil fuel use is the primary driver of climate change and all town halls analyzed included discussions about natural resource development, use and export.
- Highly-engaged Canadians expect government climate action plans to be evidence-based and grounded in current data and climate science.
- Participants’ town hall notes include references to research that finds Canada will be unable to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while constructing new fossil fuel infrastructure like the Kinder Morgan and Energy East pipelines.
- Engagement across ministries and provincial governments was minimal. Voices of pertinent federal ministers, provincial premiers and environment ministries were essentially absent from the online conversation.
Three Recommendations to Improve Public Engagement Process
- A process that encourages more uniform feedback
- Clearer communication about how input and feedback from public engagement activities will be incorporated into national climate planning
- A more active government role in ensuring an informed discussion, and limiting the impact of misinformation campaigns and climate science deniers
Link to Survey Here