New Brunswick has released the final progress report of its climate change action plan entitled Transitioning to a Low-Carbon Economy.
The five-year plan, unveiled in 2017, included more than 100 action items related to mitigating climate change and adapting to it.
Jeff Hoyt, executive director of the Climate Change Secretariat, said 76 per cent of the items have been completed.
“We had a very broad, comprehensive plan. It had 118 actions in it, which is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the country,” Hoyt said in an interview.
“I think, given the breadth of the material, is a very good showing for the province.”
Among the highlights listed in the report are reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 37 per cent below 2005 levels and having 55 per cent of municipalities complete climate change adaptation plans.
As well as the release of updated and expanded flood hazard mapping, and the launch of an incentive program for electric vehicles.
While 90 of the 118 action items have been marked as completed, the remaining 28 items are considered not completed.
Hoyt said that does not necessarily mean there was a lack of action on those particular items.
“In a lot of cases there was action, it just wasn’t enough to be able to say that you’d actually completed that action. Sometimes it takes longer than the five-year timeline to actually implement those things,” said Hoyt.
One of the actions dealt with incorporating climate change into education at all levels, including experiential learning, and connecting students with climate change initiatives in their local communities.
Hoyt said while an “incredible amount of work” has been done to date, the initiative is something that will be ongoing.
As for what will happen to the action items that were not completed, Hoyt said they will be considered as part of the renewed action plan coming this summer.
