Close X
Thursday, January 16, 2025
ADVT 
National

Canada says it wants to slash its emissions by half by 2035. Will that be enough?

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 12 Dec, 2024 10:40 AM
  • Canada says it wants to slash its emissions by half by 2035. Will that be enough?

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."

MORE National ARTICLES

Health Canada approves Pfizer-BioNTech's updated COVID-19 vaccine

Health Canada approves Pfizer-BioNTech's updated COVID-19 vaccine
Health Canada approved Pfizer-BioNTech's updated COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, marking its third authorization of vaccine formulations that protect against the most recently circulating variants of the virus. Pfizer-BioNTech's mRNA vaccine, called Comirnaty, targets the KP.2 subvariant of Omicron, replacing the previous version that targeted the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant.

Health Canada approves Pfizer-BioNTech's updated COVID-19 vaccine

Greens vow to expand safer supply of drugs in B.C., ex-coroner Lapointe backs plan

Greens vow to expand safer supply of drugs in B.C., ex-coroner Lapointe backs plan
British Columbia's former chief coroner is criticizing plans by two of the province's major political parties for involuntary treatment of people with drug addictions, saying there's little evidence it works and more people will die. Lisa Lapointe emerged from retirement in the starting days of the B.C. election campaign to throw her weight behind a BC Green Party campaign pledge to expand prescribed safer supply of opioids and other drugs to deal with the province's deadly overdose crisis.

Greens vow to expand safer supply of drugs in B.C., ex-coroner Lapointe backs plan

Man sentenced for multiple break-ins over a year

Man sentenced for multiple break-ins over a year
Police say a 44-year-old man has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for committing multiple break-ins in a six-month period between 2022 and 2023. Burnaby R-C-M-P say the man had been targetting high-end homes under construction.

Man sentenced for multiple break-ins over a year

Identity of man killed in Langley shooting released

Identity of man killed in Langley shooting released
Homicide detectives are releasing the identity of a man killed in a shooting in Langley over the weekend in hopes of advancing the investigation. Police say Johnathan Hebrada-Walters of Edmonton was known to police, and initial investigation indicates he was the victim of a targeted shooting.

Identity of man killed in Langley shooting released

HandyDART strike in Metro Vancouver ending as workers ratify new deal with TransDev

HandyDART strike in Metro Vancouver ending as workers ratify new deal with TransDev
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724 voted Monday to ratify the deal, giving workers a "significant" wage increase, that the union says would address the staffing shortages.  TransDev says it's pleased the three-week strike is coming to an end.

HandyDART strike in Metro Vancouver ending as workers ratify new deal with TransDev

Trudeau meets with Haiti's acting prime minister, calls for humanitarian help

Trudeau meets with Haiti's acting prime minister, calls for humanitarian help
Justin Trudeau will turn his focus to the ongoing crises in Haiti as he speaks with some world leaders Monday ahead of the 78th meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. The prime minister met with the Caribbean country's acting prime minister, Garry Conille, on Monday morning before delivering remarks at a high-level meeting for a UN advisory group for Haiti.

Trudeau meets with Haiti's acting prime minister, calls for humanitarian help