N.S. climate file stagnating 15 months after emergency debate, say opposition MLAs

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Like Johns, New Democrat MLA Claudia Chender said the government is taking too long to act on an issue that has reached a crisis level.

Chender pointed to the provincial green fund, which was created through the province's cap-and-trade program. The value of the fund after two cap-and-trade auctions last year was $28.7 million, with most of that money remaining unspent to date.

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Environment Department officials have said now that the organizational work related to the fund is mostly complete, attention will turn to ways to spend the money.

But Chender said she's disappointed that so little of the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on COVID-related stimulus projects has focused on green initiatives.

‘While many of those projects may be necessary, they certainly are not carbon neutral and they certainly need to be balanced and mitigated by robust action on the climate file,’ she said.

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