Charlottetown, P.E.I. — The Zero Carbon Bill proposed by Lynne Lund, Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Summerside-Wilmot and deputy leader of the Green Party of Prince Edward Island, was unanimously voted in the province legislature on Tuesday, December 1.
The bill later passed third reading on December 3, effectively writing it into the P.E.I. legislature. Lund immediately took to Twitter to break down the news. The bill binds the province to net zero carbon emissions target by 2040. Additionally, Lund’s bill would require yearly mandatory reporting on greenhouse gases emissions from the province to record climate change progress on this target.
Addressing members of the legislature on Tuesday, Lund said this bill “basically creates an accountability framework for the targets that have been put forward already”. P.E.I. Transportation, Infrastructure and Energy Minister Steven Myers, an outspoken supporter of the bill, has been tasked with leading the province’s efforts to reach net zero by 2040.
Lund had already made history for green development in P.E.I. back in July 2019, when she introduced a bill aiming to reduce emissions from the 1.8 megatonnes measured in 2015 to 1.2 megatonnes by the year 2030. This was in response to the 1.4 megatonnes target set during the 2015 Paris Agreement on greenhouse gas emission, which was deemed insufficient.
Moving forward with the bill, Myers put forward an amendment that would require cabinet to proclaim this bill by December 31, 2021, setting the pace for a new green initiative in P.E.I.
English (Canada) 
Français 