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Prince Edward Island reduced its greenhouse gas emissions three straight years, according to a new report \u2014 but as the province strives towards its goal to reach net-zero by 2040, it must hone in on transportation, says Gilles Arsenault, P.E.I.’s minister of environment, energy and climate action.<\/p>\n
\u201cTransportation is a weak point all throughout the country, so we’re not alone in this,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have way more traffic in P.E.I. than we had even four years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2025 National Inventory Report, compiled using data from 2023, found that total greenhouse gas emissions on P.E.I. were 1.59 megatonnes that year. That’s nearly a one per cent decrease over 2022, according to a news release issued by the province. <\/p>\n
Under P.E.I.’s Net-zero Carbon Act<\/a>, the province needs to reduce emissions to less than 1.2 megatonnes by 2030.<\/p>\n P.E.I.\u2019s three consecutive years of overall emissions reductions came during a time when the province’s population grew by almost 17 per cent, the release states.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the programming that we put in place is working, and I think people are changing some of their habits as well,\u201d Arsenault said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The programs making the biggest impact are related to building, he said, especially the province’s home insulation rebates and its heat pump program.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe new buildings… in terms of the way they’re heating the building, either it’s geothermal, either it’s heat pumps, it’s the insulation program on the new builds. It’s easier,” Arsenault said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it’s also with the buildings that we have currently in the province [that] we’re refurbishing with this type of insulation and heating systems.\u201d<\/p>\n Transportation a focus of new action plan<\/p>\n Arsenault said a new net-zero action plan will be released this winter that will lay out the province\u2019s programming for the next five years. <\/p>\n He said transportation is a priority in the plan.<\/p>\n While programs like the active transportation fund<\/a> and “toonie transit<\/a>” have been successful, more needs to be done to tackle transportation emissions. For example, the province is looking at electric vehicle rebates and charging infrastructure for EVs.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s a mix of all those transportation tools that we have that we’re going to be working on,\u201d Arsenault said.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘Balancing act’<\/p>\n The pursuit of net-zero goals comes as P.E.I. faces electricity shortages<\/a>. Arsenault said it\u2019s \u201ca balancing act.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe balance is between doing what’s environmentally friendly to do to protect the environment, and also to have a sustainable grid.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767966068_580_default.jpg\")
Gilles Arsenault, P.E.I.’s minister of environment, energy and climate action, says provincial programs like home insulation rebates and its heat pump program are playing a role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. (Shane Hennessey\/CBC)<\/p>\n![\"See](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767966069_556_default.jpg\")
There were 143,346 rural transit rides in 2024-25, according to the latest Minister’s Report on Climate Change, released by the P.E.I. government. (Julien Lecacheur\/Radio Canada)<\/p>\n