Prominent business and civil society leaders to Trudeau and Premiers: be bold on clean growth and climate action plan

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Nov. 24, 2016) - More than 60 Canadian business and civil society leaders sent an open letter to the Prime Minister and Premiers today, encouraging them to work together to make Canada a global leader in clean growth and climate action, and offering to help seize this historic opportunity. Canada's First Ministers meet in two weeks to decide on a Pan-Canadian Framework for Clean Growth and Climate Change.

Signatories include CEOs from Canada's major economic sectors, including oil & gas, forestry, mining, manufacturing, banking, retail and clean tech. Also included are leaders from Indigenous Peoples, youth, labour, and environmental NGOs. Together, they represent organizations with over 1 million employees, with revenues in excess of $300 billion.

The group calls for bold and timely action to meet Canada's climate commitments and accelerate the shift to clean growth across the economy, including by: (1) Putting a rising price on carbon, and using the revenues to advance climate and competitiveness goals, (2) Setting world class standards for energy efficiency, (3) Making a major investment in clean infrastructure, and (4) Accelerating clean innovation across the economy.

These measures should be designed to help businesses be competitive and prepare for a low carbon global economy. They should be inclusive, to benefit all Canadians. And they should be part of a coordinated approach that allows regionally tailored paths to a common goal.

The letter reflects a growing Canadian consensus that "building a high performance, low carbon economy is a major economic opportunity and a vital environmental responsibility for Canada."

As the Prime Minister and Premiers head into this important meeting, the time is right for government leadership that catalyzes private initiative to help Canada meet this clean growth opportunity.

This letter is a result of the voluntary efforts of the signatories. It has been supported by the Smart Prosperity Initiative, a Canadian coalition that harnesses new thinking to map out and accelerate Canada's transition to a stronger, cleaner economy in the next decade.

For the full text of the letter, list of signatories, and quotes, see www.smartprosperity.ca