Time running out for Canada to meet climate target: Audit November 08, 2024

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By AFP -Agence France Presse

Time running out for Canada to meet climate target: Audit

Canada is quickly running out of time to implement policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to meet its Paris Agreement target, the environment commissioner warned on Thursday.

“The risks increase every year, and the window of opportunity to reduce emissions and meet Canada's 2030 target is closing fast,” Environment Commissioner Jerry DeMarco said while presenting a report on the government's climate policy.

“This is no time to give up,” he said at a press conference, calling for intensified climate efforts and insisting that it is still possible to reach the target.

According to the report, Ottawa “has not made sufficient progress” to reduce emissions by up to 45% from 2005 levels and now has only six years to achieve most of the reductions.

An audit of a sample of 20 policy measures, out of a total of 149, showed that nine were “on track,” such as incentives for the purchase of zero-emission vehicles, while nine faced challenges and two-faced “significant barriers”, including a proposed cap on emissions from the petroleum gas sector announced on Monday, which was met with resistance.

Government estimates of expected emissions reductions in several cases were also “overly optimistic,” the report said.

Canada is responsible for less than two percent of global GHG emissions but is one of the largest emitters per capita.

The country is also the world's fourth-largest oil producer.

Canada's greenhouse gas emissions fell 7.1% from 2005 levels, reaching 708 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, according to the latest government data.

Last year, Ottawa said it expects reductions to reach 36.2% by 2030.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said on Thursday that he accepted the commissioner's recommendations while lamenting the strong resistance to federal climate policies from the opposition and several provinces.

“We continue to move forward with the implementation of our plan,” he said, adding, ”We have a fair chance of reaching our 2030 target.”

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