Climate change can no longer be considered a future threat. It is upon us. From droughts and wildfires to shoreline erosion and floods, Canadians are already feeling the effects. The increasingly harsh impacts of climate change are borderless and disproportionately affect the world's most vulnerable countries.
Today, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, reaffirmed the Government of Canada's support for the High Ambition Coalition and more ambitious actions on climate outlined in the COP26 Leaders' Statement. The High Ambition Coalition aims to ensure that the 1.5°C goal remains the top priority for climate action globally and that support for adaptation continues to increase.
In 2015, Canada helped to spur global ambition and strengthen resolve by pushing for the 1.5°C objective into the Paris Agreement, which has guided our climate policy ever since, and when Canada first joined the High Ambition Coalition.
The 1.5°C limit matters for Canada, which is warming at twice the global average. The 1.5°C limit is even more essential for developing countries, which often lack adequate resources to fight climate change and adapt to its impacts.
Through this new Declaration, Canada-alongside other global leaders at Glasgow, including New Zealand, the United States of America, Independent State of Samoa, Italy, Micronesia, Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Rwanda, Seychelles, and the Republic of Angola-is pushing for increased climate action, including through enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs); phasing out unabated coal-fired electricity; reducing global methane emissions by at least 30 percent from 2020 levels; enhancing adaptation support for developing countries; and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. The goal is to translate ambitious pledges into concrete actions, a priority for the Conference of the Parties (COP26), and for Canadians across the country.
Quotes
"Since first joining the High Ambition Coalition in 2015, Canada has demonstrated our willingness to continually raise our climate ambition and to match that ambition with pragmatic plans to achieve it. We are fully committed to taking stronger actions to limit the effects of climate change and to support vulnerable communities as they adapt to the current, inescapable realities. Just as it is clear there is more work to be done, it's equally clear that we must all work together."
- The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change
Quick facts
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Thus far, countries such as Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, and Switzerland have joined the High Ambition Coalition.
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With new 2030 mitigation targets this year from the Canada, Japan and the US, combined with ambitious action from the EU and UK countries accounting for more than half of the world's economy have now committed to the pace of emission reductions required globally to limit warming to 1.5°C.
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On October 11, 2021, Canada was among a dozen countries to announce its early support for the Global Methane Pledge, which aims to reduce global methane emissions by 30 percent below 2020 levels by 2030. The Pledge was formally launched at COP26 and now has over 100 members.
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The Government of Canada is also committed to developing a plan to reduce methane emissions across the broader Canadian economy and to reducing oil and gas methane emissions by at least 75 percent below 2012 levels by 2030. Canada is the first and only country to support the Pledge and the 75 percent goal, and our approach will include regulations.
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Canada is accelerating the phase-out of coal by 2030, while supporting a just transition.
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Canada is committed to reaching net-zero emissions no later than 2050. Bill C-12, the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, became law earlier this year.
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At COP26 last week, Canada announced that it will allocate a minimum of 40 percent of its climate finance towards climate adaptation.
