Canada is aiming to cut its emissions in half by 2035 compared to 2005 levels, a newly released benchmark lower than its advisory body recommended.Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle
TORONTO – Canada is aiming to cut its emissions in half by 2035 compared to 2005 levels, a newly released target range that is lower than what a federal advisory body recommended.
Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault says a target of reducing emissions by 45 to 50 per cent balances both ambition and achievability.
He says the target’s lower end accounts for potential headwinds, including how president-elect Donald Trump, who has promised rollbacks of some key U.S. climate policies, approaches the issue.
In a report published in September, Canada’s Net-Zero Advisory Body recommended an emissions reduction target of 50 to 55 per cent.
The report says a target in the government’s chosen range risks “putting Canada too far behind its net-zero goal and would likely represent insufficient ambition” compared to its partners, including other G7 countries.
Federal legislation required the target to be set this month as one of its checkpoints on the path to Canada’s 2050 net-zero target, a scenario in which it can take as many emissions out of the atmosphere as it puts in.
Global emissions need to hit net zero by around mid-century if the world wants to limit global warming to around 1.5 C and avert some of climate change’s most severe impacts, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a scientific body of the United Nations.
Canada’s advisory body has suggested the government is at risk of missing its 2030 target of a 40 to 45 per cent emissions cut, even if it implements all of its current climate plans.
Guilbeault said the government “needs to do more, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
“I think it’s important to send a signal to the Canadians, Canadian businesses, provinces, municipalities and other stakeholders who care deeply about this, that we’re continuing on the fight against climate change in Canada,” he said.
“We’ve done a lot in the in the last few years, but there’s still a long way to go.”
The target released Thursday received mixed reception by some in Canada’s climate policy circles.
The target is “reasonable,” said Mark Zacharias, executive director at Clean Energy Canada, a climate and clean energy think tank at Simon Fraser University.
He said provinces will also have to step up with actions to drive down emissions, such as policies to increase adoption of energy efficient heat pumps and electric vehicles.
“Setting a target that you can meet actually allows you to back calculate around what … policies you need in place to get there, and it becomes a very, very reasonable discussion around how to get to a particular target,” said Zacharias.
It’s not good enough, suggested Caroline Brouillette, executive director of Climate Action Network Canada, a coalition of advocacy groups.
She called the new target “weak.”
“The federal government could have used this target to set a bold vision to diversify our economy towards affordable, reliable energy sources, and reduce our dependence on the whims of belligerent climate deniers,” she wrote in a statement.
“Instead, it has chosen to cave.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2024.
