Released For Publication - November 22, 2023
Ontario Greens leader Mike Schreiner released the following statement in response to the summary report on the Costing Climate Change Impacts to Public Infrastructure (CIPI) project released today by the Financial Accountability Office.
“While Doug Ford continues to deny and ignore the worsening climate crisis, Ontario is accelerating towards a financial disaster.
Climate impacts are already costing Ontarians billions annually, even as the Ford government fights carbon pollution pricing, ramps up fossil gas plants and pushes ahead with destructive expensive highways like 413.
I asked the FAO to undertake the CIPI project because the people of Ontario deserve to have honest answers about the financial costs of ignoring the climate emergency.
The FAO’s final report documents the massive bill coming due as more frequent and severe extreme weather events take their toll on our roads, bridges, public buildings and water/wastewater systems.
Under a no-adaptation strategy – basically what we have now – climate hazards will add $4.1 billion a year over the rest of the century to the cost of maintaining public infrastructure – and Ontario’s municipalities will be hit four times harder than the province.
The Ford government’s abject failure to take meaningful action to address or adapt to the climate crisis will impose a huge financial burden on people today and for future generations.
Ontario Greens are calling on the government to:
• Implement a real climate plan to reduce carbon pollution by half this decade;
• Create a dedicated adaptation fund to make Ontario’s public infrastructure climate ready;
• Cancel expensive Greenbelt highways like 413 and the Bradford Bypass that increase climate risks and climate pollution and reverse course on their sprawl agenda, which will increase financial and climate risks."
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