Climate change plan slow-moving, government documents suggest

The process of coming up with a new provincial climate change action plan, which would be critical to meeting New Brunswick's 2020 emissions reduction target, is taking much longer than anticipated, according to government documents obtained by CBC News.

"The consultations and analysis with departments and agencies are slower than expected and responses are light," said a document from the Environment and Local Government department, dated April 1, 2015.

CBC News obtained the documents through the Right to Information Act.

The document goes on to say, "major commitments will take much more time to be evaluated to the point of confidence in moving forward or not."

Louise Comeau, the executive director of Climate Action Network Canada, says combatting climate change isn't a big enough priority for the government.

"You need a premier and a cabinet that's serious and the fact that it's slow is just a sign that they're not serious," said Comeau.

CBC News reported earlier this year that New Brunswick is not on track to meet its pledge to cut emissions 10 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, according to internal government documents.

A report by the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council also found New Brunswick is set to miss its 2020 reduction commitments by a wide margin, while the other Atlantic provinces have already met them, or on the way to doing so.

'Currently readying new plan'

It has been more than a year since Premier Brian Gallant acknowledged the province needs a better plan to reduce emissions. 

The current plan was created by the former Progressive Conservative government in 2014.

In a statement, Environment Minister Brian Kenny said "New Brunswick is currently readying its new plan for climate change. 

It's important to ensure that our new plan fits with the strategies being developed nationally and in other provinces and we're working to that end."

But Gallant told CBC News in the lead up to the Paris climate conference that readying the plan could take up to another year to release because more consultations are needed with stakeholders.

Comeau says she hasn't seen any evidence so far of the government reaching out to engage in meaningful consultations.

"They're not consulting with anybody, I don't know who they're talking to," Comeau said.

"They're not talking to the people who work on this issue all the time."

Why so slow?

Green Party Leader David Coon is frustrated there isn't a new climate change plan more than a year after Gallant came into office, but he isn't surprised.

Coon said he believes talks are especially slow because of the structuring of the Climate Change Secretariat, which is a branch of the Department of Environment.

He says if the secretariat was part of the government's Executive Council, other government departments would give it more priority. He thinks that would help move along consultations on the plan within government.

"The Climate Change Secretariat should be and still can be situated in the Executive Council of government, the centre of government," Coon said.

"It's kind of 'wait in line Charlie' ... unless [a directive] comes from the centre of government, and then it moves right up to the top."