Stronger climate change solutions key to improving health, affordability issues for NBers, experts say

While health and affordability issues dominate the provincial election campaign, environmental groups says climate action should be part of plans to address both.

Danielle Smith of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick said the connection between climate change, health and the economy isn't always obvious but she would like to see political parties start recognizing it ahead of election day. 

"Ignoring climate change, while talking about affordability and health care, is like ignoring an elephant in the room," she said. "Climate change isn't just an environmental issue, it's a public health and economic crisis."

She noted a significant jump in catastrophe insurance claims since 2009, as reported by Statistics Canada, and added burdens on the health-care system as illnesses from heat, poor air quality and ticks increase — some of the ways climate change affects personal health and finance. 

"We know this past summer we broke heat records yet again. We're seeing a large increase in energy costs. We've been experiencing wildfires across the country as well as in our own province here," Smith said. 

"A lot of these types of things — like rising energy costs, higher food prices, more expensive insurance — all of these are linked to the climate crisis."

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Stephanie Merrill, CEO of the Nature Trust of New Brunswick, agrees that climate is intrinsically linked to health and affordability.

"We are, at the same time, getting hit by more intense storms like severe rainfall and floods, hurricane and tropical winds, record-breaking heat waves, and also seeing a decline in the quality of our natural environment to protect us from these increasing threats," she said. 

"It's like burning the candle from both ends."

'Weak commitments' as heat breaks records

In September, Copernicus, the European Union's Earth observation program, reported 2024 as the hottest summer on record for the northern hemisphere. 

The climate agency previously reported 2023 as the hottest on record. 

But Smith says none of the political parties vying to form the next government have gone far enough on climate policy.

"So far, we've seen weak commitments from all parties across the way," she said.

"We know that the environmental degradation directly impacts public health and the economic stability of our province, yet this isn't reflected in any of the platforms."

The Conservation Council is hoping the next government will commit to legislating net zero in the electricity act. The province is currently working toward a net zero electricity system by 2030. 

The group would also like to see a broader mandate for the energy and utilities board, a zero-emission school bus system, protection of 30 per cent of New Brunswick's land and water, more spending on energy efficiency programs, a complete ban on glyphosate spraying and a continued moratorium on fracking. 

Merrill emphasizes the need to transition from fossil fuels as soon as possible. She also wants to see land conservation leveraged as a protective strategy.

"[Conservation is] a way to both sequester the carbon pollution driving climate change and protect the wetlands and stream buffers and coastal areas, which help absorb storms and protect homes and property," she said. 

"We need reform on how we manage our public forests, not just for cutting timber today but for clean air and water they provide tomorrow, and to be able to withstand climate impacts of disease and infestation, blow down and fires."

Merrill declined to evaluate the party platforms when asked on Friday, noting the Nature Trust plans to survey the parties. 

What do political leaders have planned? 

The Progressive Conservative party has yet to publish its full platform but there is no mention of climate policy on the party website, and Leader Blaine Higgs has yet to make any election campaign commitments on climate change.

Asked about his plans for climate mitigation if re-elected, Higgs said the 2035 timeline set by Ottawa for a transition to clean energy is not realistic. 

"Continuing to make, you know, our province cleaner and greener, and invest in new technology to do that, we will be on that page," he said.

"Looking at how we can impact the world in a way to shut down coal plants is another area that we should analyze." 

Higgs did not give details on how he would do that, or respond to a question about how much his party would spend on climate actions. 

The Liberal party platform includes a list of commitments, but how much they will spend on each item is not yet clear.

"Our plan for dealing with climate change is to govern with climate change in mind in all our decisions," said party spokesperson Pascale Paulin. 

"We will be asking the federal government to invest in programs that help New Brunswickers get off of fossil fuels ... We will use the existing capital budget of 1.2 billion that is often under spent to invest in greening initiatives."

Paulin didn't answer follow-up questions about how much of that $1.2 billion would go to climate actions and whether that annual amount would continue over four years. 

If elected, the Liberals say they plan to: 

• Update legislation to guarantee New Brunswickers the right to clean air and water.

• Require all new schools, hospitals, long-term care homes, and other public buildings to have modern air filtration, heating, and cooling systems that follow standards for the control of infectious aerosols. Improve air filtration and cooling units in existing buildings. 

• Provide New Brunswick residents with a 25-per-cent discount on provincial park passes.

• Work with local governments to boost active transportation infrastructure, such as walking and cycling trails.

• Increase support for home energy retrofits, introduce a program for solar retrofits, and provide a free heat pump program.

• By 2035, ensure all government buildings are net zero and the vehicle fleet, including school buses, is electric.

• Increase conservation from 10 per cent to 15 per cent of New Brunswick land and water, then develop a plan to reach 30 per cent.

• Review and update emergency preparedness plan for growing number of extreme weather events.

• Implement a coastal erosion plan.

• Investigate alternatives to pesticides and herbicides. Re-evaluate safety of glyphosate based on New Brunswick-specific data.

• Implement the recommendations of all-party Standing Committee on Climate Change and Environmental Stewardship to increase restrictions on pesticide and herbicide use.

The Green Party hasn't released its full platform, but to date has promised to spend at least $255 million over four years on several climate commitments.

Those include: 

• Introduce the Youth Climate Corps, a program to offer training and employment to young people related to land and water conservation and climate adaptation measures — $8 million over four years.

• Climate-change risk reduction fund for infrastructure upgrades to protect against flooding, coastal erosion, and violent weather — no cost estimate. 

• Coastal Protection Authority to co-ordinate protective actions for communities and infrastructure along the coastline — $4 million over four years.

• Replace consumer carbon tax with a new cap-and-trade pricing system aimed at shifting the cost burden to the biggest polluters — no cost to government.

• Update legislation to guarantee New Brunswickers have the right to a healthy environment — $2.8 million over four years.

• Introduce an electricity support program for low-income New Brunswickers to offset N.B. Power's most recent rate increases. Estimated average rebate of $25 per month per customer — $240 million over four years.