Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) demonstrates active engagement on climate policy at the federal and provincial level, with generally unsupportive positions. CME has consistently advocated for financial incentives to facilitate the energy transition, but emphasizes the risks to national competitiveness in the global marketplace and the potential for carbon leakage that would result from other forms of climate regulation.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: CME’s top-line messaging on climate policy is ambiguous. The group generally supports market-based approaches to respond to climate change over other forms of government regulation. In December 2022 comments on Canada’s Output-Based Pricing System Regulations (OBPS), CME called for increased government investment in the Canadian manufacturing sector to remain competitive with the US following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). In the same comments, CME appeared to support net-zero targets in line with the Paris Agreement, but called the goals “extraordinarily ambitious” and “incredibly expensive” to achieve.
Engagement with Climate-Related Policy: CME is active on policies concerning carbon pricing and greenhouse gas regulation, particularly the OBPS and Clean Electricity Regulations (CER). In November 2023 comments on the CER, CME called for further economic assessment of the policy prior to implementation, and “urged the federal government to retain flexibility in providing policy off-ramps to preserve adequacy of electricity supply and enable Canadian industry to successfully navigate the transition to a clean economy.” CME does not appear as engaged on policy related to renewable energy or land use. In October 2022 comments on the amendments to the Output-Based Pricing System Regulations, Canada’s carbon pricing policy, CME emphasized the need to minimize risks in competitiveness and carbon leakage. It also cited concerns with the rising price on carbon in Canada "from $65 per tonne in 2023 to $170 in 2030" and the associated costs of this plan.
Position on Energy Transition: While CME has stated support for an energy transition, it mostly calls for an approach that perpetuates the use of fossil fuels in the energy mix. In April 2024, CME’s Director of Policy and Ontario Governmental Relations testified in support of the province’s Keeping Energy Costs Down Act, which contains provisions that weaken stringencies related to the regulation of fossil gas utilities. In February 2024 comments on the Government of Canada’s consultation regarding investment tax credits, CME supported provisions that promoted the development of green hydrogen from renewables and Zero Emission Vehicle manufacturing. However, CME also supported provisions with an unclear impact on the future energy mix, such as exceptions to the “recapture rule” that is meant to ensure the tax credits are being utilized for their intended purpose in the long-term.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the organization’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q2 2024.