Trudeau increases Canada’s 2030 emissions target to 40-45% Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday that Canada is increasing the country’s targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40 to 45 per cent of 2005 levels by 2030.
This is an increase of Canada’s previous commitment of 30 per cent.
Trudeau unveiled new targets during a virtual address to world leaders convened by U.S. President Joe Biden for a summit on fighting climate change.
Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris opened the event, which also includes speeches from the leaders of China, the European Commission, United Kingdom and India.
The Biden administration pledged to slash U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 50 to 52 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030, a new target it hopes will spur other big emitter countries to raise their ambition to combat climate change.
Canada enters the event as Biden is trying to advance America’s efforts on fighting climate change and has focused billions in spending to promote electric vehicles.
Like Biden, Trudeau is under pressure from different groups to bring forward a higher emissions reduction target.
Different climate organizations and some opposition parties want Trudeau to cut emissions of heat-trapping gases by at least 50 to 60 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
Ahead of the summit, seven environmental groups released a report with modelling that says to limit global warming to 1.5 C degrees compared to pre-industrial levels, Canada should double the 30 per cent commitment it signed in the Paris Agreement.
Trudeau slams Conservative platform on addressing climate change Trudeau slams Conservative platform on addressing climate change The Liberals say existing measures promise to lower Canada’s emissions by 36 per cent for 2030, and help it achieve net-zero by mid-century.
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.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh expressed concerns about the Liberals keeping their climate promises on Wednesday.
“I am concerned that the Liberals will set a target and not meet it, and that’s why we’ve been saying we need better accountability,” Singh said.
In a letter to Liberal Environment and Climate Change Minster Jonathan Wilkinson, Singh called for the government to adopt a 50 per cent goal, while the Greens say it should be 60.
Conservative environment critic Dan Albas touted his own party’s new climate plan, which for the first time contains a consumer carbon price, in a statement.
“The Liberal government has repeatedly announced new climate targets in the past six months without showing how they will actually reach them,” Albas said in a statement.
“Announcing targets is easy, showing how they will reach them is what matters.”
The summit comes as parliamentarians debate Bill C-12 which, if passed, would mean the federal environment minister has to set rolling, five-year targets for cutting carbon emissions starting in 2030 and ending in 2050.
READ MORE: Budget 2021 — Liberals pledge near $17B to promote green recovery in Canada after COVID-19
Before Thursday’s event, Wilkinson penned a letter to federal party leaders asking them to say what they want Canada’s new emissions target to be, and underscoring the need for co-operation on “raising our ambition.”
“Time is now running out,” read the letter obtained by The Canadian Press.
“New evidence continues to mount about an accelerating climate crisis, and the transition to a low-carbon economy has become a global sprint as countries compete to attract clean-growth investments and create the good middle class jobs of the 21st century.”