Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised Canada will slash its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45 per cent within the next decade, a goal significantly less ambitious than its closest ally.
The new target is higher than the 36 per cent reduction below 2005 levels the government says it can achieve under existing measures by 2030, and the 30 per cent goal Canada agreed to under the Paris Agreement.
Trudeau announced the higher target during a virtual climate summit of world leaders convened by United States President Joe Biden, who pledged to cut his country’s emissions by 50 to 52 per cent by 2030.
In his address, the prime minister said fighting the novel coronavirus remains his priority, but science says climate change is an “existential threat.”
“We must take action now because there’s no vaccine against a polluted planet,” said Trudeau.
Speaking in French, Trudeau told the convention, which included the leaders of China, India, the United Kingdom and Japan, that “only bold climate policies lead to bold results.”
He touted his government’s spending on growing the clean technology sector, and efforts to conserve its oceans and lands, as well as a centrepiece of the Liberals’ climate policy: a national carbon price that is set to rise to $170 per tonne by 2030.
“If major economies in the room were to follow Canada’s lead and adopt a rising price on pollution and commit to phase out coal plants, we would accelerate our global path for a safe, prosperous net-zero future,” Trudeau said.
Clean Prosperity, a climate policy organization, has said it could see Canada adopt a new target of between 40 to 50 per cent in recognition of the economic challenges around a clean energy transition and people employed in the fossil fuel sector.
(Canadian Press)
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