Detailed plan to meet emissions targets coming in 'months': environment minister
Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says a detailed plan showing how Canada might finally meet a greenhouse gas emissions target will be ready in a few months but not likely in time for this fall's global climate change conference in Scotland.
Wilkinson is in Milan this week for meetings with his global counterparts to set the final agenda for negotiations that will take place at the full United Nations climate change meetings in Glasgow in early November.
The meeting, known as Conference of the Parties, or COP, is to happen annually, but the Glasgow conference was delayed a year because of COVID-19. That delay also pushed back the 2020 deadline for countries to submit more ambitious emissions-cutting targets.
"Canada, as you know, has raised its target, as have the United States and Europe, but there are many countries that have not yet and that's part of what we're going to be working to encourage greater ambition," Wilkinson said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
A United Nations report two weeks ago said where pledges currently stand, emissions will be 16 per cent higher globally by 2030, pushing global warming close to 2.7 C by 2100. The Paris agreement said it must be kept as close to 1.5 C as possible to avoid catastrophic climate change.
Canada's original goal was to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 to 30 per cent less than they were in 2005. Canada submitted its new target to the UN in July, raising the cut to 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by the same deadline.
Practically that means Canada has to cut between 292 million tonnes and 328.5 million tonnes of emissions a year within nine years, or 3.5 to four times what all the passenger cars in Canada collectively produce.
Last fall Wilkinson unveiled a sharpened climate policy, which experts said finally showed the path to getting to the original 2030 goal. Months later, the new target was introduced but the detailed plan to get there is still in the works.
Some of the broad strokes for the new goal came in the Liberals' platform in the recent election, most notably a promise to cap emissions from the oil and gas sector for the first time and to lower that cap every five years until it hits net-zero emissions by 2050.
Net zero means any emissions still produced are captured by nature or technology.
The Liberals also say every passenger car sold in Canada must be electric by 2035, and that same year, have a net-zero emitting electricity grid.
But Wilkinson said the "fully modelled plan" showing how the new policies will be implemented, when, and how they'll achieve the new target, is still in development and it's unlikely it will be ready before Glasgow's meetings start.
"We need to come forward with a fully modelled plan, and we intend to do that over the coming few months," he said.
Further complicating things is that Wilkinson is still not 100 per cent certain if he'll be the minister of environment in November. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is to shuffle his cabinet in the next few weeks, and while Wilkinson said he has no reason to believe he is being shuffled, he serves at Trudeau's pleasure.
"We're in this kind of weird caretaker moment right now where we do need to get somebody firmly in the chair," he said. "I'm in the chair right now, but (who is going to be) firmly in the chair, and who is going to be responsible for carrying this forward?"
Eddy Perez, the international diplomacy manager at Climate Action Network Canada, says not having the modelling before COP isn't the end of the world but warns there is not a lot of time for Canada to delay implementing the new plans.
Canada's emissions are higher now than they were when the government signed the Paris agreement six years ago and Perez said the country is suffering from a reputation of having good plans on paper that never play out in reality.
"There is a lot that is on paper that is positive," said Perez. "I think where we need to see much more before COP26 and at COP26 is on the details, on the very practical details of the implementation of these policies."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2021.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Conservatives call on Elon Musk to step in after Liberals provide loan to Ottawa-based satellite operator
A $2.14-billion federal loan for an Ottawa-based satellite operator has Canadian politicians arguing about whether American billionaire Elon Musk poses a national security risk.
Myths busted and lessons learned: John Vennavally-Rao on his surgery to reverse his ostomy
Twenty-seven year Â鶹ӰÊÓ reporter and anchor John Vennavally-Rao shares his story of what it was like to have an ostomy bag as part of his health-care battle. 'I’m grateful for what it did to extend my life,' he writes in a personal column for CTVNews.ca.
Trump appeals to women in return to North Carolina without Mark Robinson, a top in-state supporter
Donald Trump returned to North Carolina on Saturday, stumping in the southern battleground state with direct appeals to women, claiming he would be a better champion for them than U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is vying to become the first female president.
Housing support for adult children with severe autism is 'absolutely absurd,' say parents
Looking after an adult with severe autism can be a full-time job. Ask any parent who has a child severely affected by autism spectrum disorder – it’s a job that can get more difficult as the child becomes an adult.
Heavy metal exposure could increase cardiovascular disease risk, study finds
A new study is adding to emerging research showing that exposure to metals such as cadmium, uranium and copper may also be associated with the leading cause of death worldwide, cardiovascular disease.
Unusual flippered feet are making their way into the Saint Lawrence River this weekend. Led by underwater explorer and filmmaker Nathalie Lasselin, volunteer divers are combing the riverbed near Beauharnois in Montérégie to remove hundreds of tires that have been polluting the aquatic environment for decades.
A body has been found in the vicinity where a woman went missing on the Ottawa River near Pembroke, Ont. while kayaking Tuesday night, according to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
Kids are inhaling 'Galaxy Gas' to get high. Here’s what parents should know
For some young people, a popular method for getting a quick high is by misusing laughing gas — and lately, that’s in the form of nitrous oxide from products sold by the company Galaxy Gas.
A man is facing numerous drug trafficking charges after Dufferin OPP seized a large assortment of drugs and weapons in Orangeville earlier this week.
Local Spotlight
Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.
Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.
An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.