441-02444 (Environment)

Whereas:

• Thermal coal, the kind burned to make electricity, is the world's dirtiest fossil fuel;

• Thermal coal creates half of the world's carbon emissions and the pollution it creates kills more than 800,000 people every year;

• The government has a plan to phase out thermal coal exports, but it is outdated and insufficient;

• The world needs to move rapidly away from thermal coal to have any chance of limiting global warming to the Paris target of 1.5 degrees Celsius;

• The physical effects of climate change pose serious risks for Canadians, Canada's wildlife and the Canadian economy including permafrost melt, droughts, heatwaves, wildfires, floods, sea level rise, increased vector-borne diseases, disruptions to supply chains, destruction of infrastructure and damage to key industries including agriculture and forestry; and

• Canada's greenhouse gas emissions have increased since the Paris Agreement was signed, making it the worst performing of all G7 nations since the 2015 Conference of the Parties in Paris, France.

We, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:

• 1. Add thermal coal to the Priority Substances List of the Canadian Environment Protection Act (CEPA), and, as soon thereafter as possible, to the Toxic Substances List of CEPA; and

• 2. Regulate the mining, use, export, and import of thermal coal in Canada in accordance with our international commitments to reduce carbon emissions at home and abroad.