Stop Global Warming

The quickest and least costly strategy to stop global warming is to reduce our consumption of energy through energy efficiency and conservation. In New Brunswick, the energy we use to heat and power our homes is the biggest source of greenhouse gases in the Province. By doing all things efficient in your home, you will be playing a critical role in preventing our planet from warming to dangerous levels.

In 1990, New Brunswick's greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) totalled 14.7 million tonnes; by 2004 they totalled over 22 million tonnes, an increase of almost 47%, or approximately 8 million tonnes. This makes New Brunswick the province with the 2nd highest per cent growth since 1990 in GHG emissions in Canada. This runaway growth in New Brunswick's GHG emission must be reversed if New Brunswick is to meet its regional targets, as well as national and international expectations for carbon reduction. This requires a comprehensive plan with clear targets and timelines aimed at reversing the trend of ever-increasing emissions.

The Conservation Council of New Brunswick (CCNB) is working hard on the provincial and national scenes to ensure we are doing our part in the global fight to stop global warming.

Our overuse of fossil fuels is wrapping the Earth’s atmosphere in a thickening blanket of greenhouse gases which trap the sun’s heat, cooking our planet.

According to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change global warming is already effecting water supplies, food security, coastal communities, public health and ecosystems. For example, as many as 250 million people in Africa could face a shortage of water by 2020 because of global warming. This will intensify hunger and famines as yields from agriculture in some African countries could be cut in half.

The world’s major powers, including Canada, can stop global warming in its tracks. We know how, and it’s not too late. We have all the science and technology we need. We just need the political will.

To avoid 2° C of global warming, the global temperature at which things get really serious, industrialized countries will have to reduce their emissions by 30 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, 50 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050.

The good news is the nations of the world came together in 1992 under a treaty to prevent dangerous damage to our climate, and the wealthiest countries, with the exception of the United States and Australia, agreed to an initial emission reduction target in 1997 under the Kyoto Protocol. The bad news is that New Brunswick and Canada have not taken this seriously and allowed greenhouse gas emissions to rise even more.

CCNB has proposed a climate action plan that would put New Brunswick on a path to decreasing greenhouse as emissions and has developed a road map to a sustainable energy future. At the national level, CCNB is active with the Climate Action Network pressing for meaningful climate action from the federal government.

To learn more about CCNB’s Climate Action Campaign and find out how you can help, click here.

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