(Glasgow) As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau begins two days of leaders’ talks at the United Nations Climate Summit in Glasgow, Canada is set to take the first step in curbing emissions from the oil and gas sector on Monday.
This is 26e Meeting of the Parties Conference for the United Nations Climate Conference, also known as COP26. Trudeau is there with more than 120 world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Canada will not exceed its greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets announced earlier this year. In July, Canada officially submitted its new target to the UN, which aims to reduce its emissions by 40 to 45% from 2005 to 2030.
The previous target was to reduce emissions by 30% in 2005 and 2030.
Mr. Trudeau’s latest election platform has included a number of new policies to achieve this revised goal, including the promise that oil and gas emissions will be controlled and compulsorily reduced until carbon neutrals are reached by 2050.
The lack of exit regulations from the oil and gas sector has long been a sore point between environmental groups in Canada and the federal government.
Prior to his departure for Scotland, new Environment Minister Steven Gilfeld told The Canadian Press that the government’s new advisory panel on carbon neutrality would work to help set targets for oil and gas caps. On Monday, he will send a letter to the advisory committee to begin the process.
Trudeau arrived at the COP after the G20 summit in Rome, where the leaders agreed that global warming should be 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century. However, they do not agree on specific steps to achieve this.
“There is no doubt that Canada and many other countries would have liked a strong language and a strong commitment in the fight against climate change,” Trudeau said in his closing remarks.
“But we have made significant progress in recognizing that 1.5 degrees is an ambition we have to share. ”
