Canada releases important long-term climate plan at COP22

MARRAKECH — Erin Flanagan, federal policy director at the Pembina Institute, made the following statement in response to the release of Canada’s mid-century climate strategy:

“We’re pleased to see Canada outline pathways to achieve deep emissions cuts by 2050 – a core requirement of the Paris Agreement, and something that Canada has not, until today, directly grappled with.

“Modelling of this nature illustrates the scale of ambition required to decarbonize Canada’s economy. The development of a long-term pathway to reduce emissions beyond Canada’s 2030 target is an essential step for the country, and will be an important input to federal, provincial and territorial planning processes.

“It is clear that significant new policy measures – including strengthened carbon prices and sector-specific regulations – are required to propel Canada’s shift away from fossil fuels and towards a low-carbon economy. We look forward to progress on this front at the first ministers’ meeting in Ottawa later this year. In particular, we encourage the federal government to commit to an accelerated phase-out of coal-fired power, to outline its plan to support energy efficiency across the economy, and to implement regulations to achieve its commitment of a 45 per cent reduction in oil and gas methane emissions by 2025.

“To bring force to this climate strategy, we encourage the federal government to outline how it will link the emerging pan-Canadian plan to its longer-term vision for deep decarbonization. We expect federal, provincial and territorial leaders to detail the steps they will take to ensure effective implementation of existing climate commitments, and to create a forum through which they increase Canada’s climate ambition over time.”

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