The following statement was read in the House of Assembly today by the Honourable Bernard Davis, Minister of Environment and Climate Change:

I rise in this Honourable House today to recognize June 2 – 8 as National Environment Week.

This year’s theme is “Generation Restoration”.

As individuals, we can preserve and restore our environment through actions such as growing trees, reducing waste, conserving energy, and adopting other environment-friendly practices in our every day lives.

As a government, we continue to focus on new and improved waste management practices.

Last year, 180 million beverage containers, or 70 per cent, were diverted from landfills through recycling programs in the province.

Speaker, Newfoundland and Labrador is ahead of other jurisdictions with more than 91 per cent of electricity sourced from renewable sources.

We are increasing electrification in homes, industries, and transportation sectors.

Since 2021, we have provided more than $17 million to over 2,600 homeowners to transition from oil to electric heating.

Our Electric Vehicle Incentive has helped us achieve over 1000 per cent growth in electric vehicles. We are now averaging two new electric vehicles on the road each day.

As of 2022, our greenhouse gas emissions have fallen to 8.6 million tonnes – these are the lowest emissions on record since 1996. We are on track to meet our 2030 greenhouse gas reduction target.

Speaker, this year we will release two new 2025-30 climate change action plans.

Our mitigation plan will lay the foundation for achieving net zero emissions by 2025, and our adaption plan will outline ways to future proof our province against the impacts of climate change.

I am pleased with the progress we are making together and I encourage everyone to continue playing their role towards the shared goal of preserving our environment for generations to come.