COP26 has entered extra time, and it will take a skilled player to resolve the negotiations.
This player could well be the new Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault, believes Eddy Pérez, director of international climate diplomacy at the Climate Action Network Canada.
Steven Guilbeault “understands the game », He said, recalling that the former environmental activist is in his 19e COP.
“He knows how much we think about compromises, in the last hours of negotiation, but [il sait aussi] that on certain points there is no compromise possible, ”explains Eddy Pérez.
Canada must use all its weight to show that its climate action is serious, he believes, stressing the responsibility of rich countries towards developing countries, the abandonment of fossil fuels, human rights and the just transition.
It is on these elements that I see Minister Guilbeault showing strong support. The real test is happening now.
Eddy Pérez, Climate Action Network Canada
The highly divergent interests of the various countries are reflected in an intense “diplomatic struggle”, underlines Eddy Pérez, who calls not to give in.
“We need someone who is capable of conveying a message on ambition, of conveying a message on the fact that we must leave [de Glasgow] with a clear message, keep the objective of [limiter le réchauffement de la planète à] 1.5 ° C at your fingertips. ”
The Équiterre organization would also like to see Ottawa play a leading role on the issue.
“We are putting pressure to ensure that Canada plays its role and prevents the final text from being watered down on issues of human rights, aboriginal rights and fossil fuels,” said Press Émile Boisseau-Bouvier, climate policy analyst and ecological transition within the Quebec organization.
“No one can claim victory”, says Guilbeault
Minister Steven Guilbeault acknowledged that the climate ambition displayed by the international community was still insufficient, during a press conference at the end of the day, Friday (Glasgow time).
“No one can claim victory here, far from it,” he said.
No one thinks the job will be done once the lights go down here in Glasgow.
Steven Guilbeault, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change
The Minister added that “Canada continues to push for an ambitious text with the other members of the High Ambition Coalition [coalition pour une ambition élevée] “.
Discussions stumbled in particular on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which should regulate emissions reductions exchanges between countries, raising the concern of many participants, including Minister Guilbeault, who wants “robust” rules. and “transparent”.
We are among those who believe that the rules on the implementation of the Paris Agreement must be finalized. However, this should not be done at any cost.
Steven Guilbeault, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change
Environmental groups denounced the fact that the version of the text that circulated at the end of the day Friday contained loopholes allowing the double counting of greenhouse gas emission reductions, which would prevent a real reduction.
The “madness” of fossil fuels
Also at the center of the discussions, subsidies to the fossil fuel industries were sharply criticized by the United States on Friday.
“This is the very definition of insanity,” US envoy John Kerry said of the trillions of dollars paid to the industry in the “last five or six years”.
We are the world’s largest producer of oil and gas. We participate in these grants. They must stop.
John Kerry, United States Climate Envoy
A report released Friday criticizes the “alarming gap” between promises and actions in the field of fossil fuels of five rich countries: Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway and Australia.
The document, titled The Five Fossil Fuels (Fossil Fueled 5, in English), notes in particular that Canada, which promises to increase its carbon pricing, has nonetheless paid some $ 17 billion in public funds for three pipeline projects between 2018 and 2020.
Steven Guilbeault reiterates that Canada will end “all subsidies that increase the production of fossil fuels” in 2023, two years ahead of its Group of Twenty (G20) partners.
Canada has invested 14.5 times more money to support fossil fuels than renewable energies, from 2018 to 2020, deplores Émile Boisseau-Bouvier, from Equiterre, believing that “our logs are not in the right basket” .
With Agence France-Presse
“Authentic appreciation”
The COP26 allowed Ottawa to regain its letters of nobility in climate matters, said Minister Steven Guilbeault, who was delighted by the “genuine appreciation of Canada’s work” by the international community. “When Canada, with one of the four main oil and gas reserves in the world, commits to cap emissions from this sector at current levels, the world takes note,” he said among others. . Canada has achieved in Glasgow a “better performance” than in previous COPs, although it should do more, says Eddy Pérez, of the Climate Action Network Canada, who acknowledges that Ottawa has been able to strengthen certain measures announced and conclude agreements. important partnerships. Émile Boisseau-Bouvier, from Équiterre, for his part welcomes Ottawa’s commitment to end investments in fossil fuels abroad: “Several billion dollars a year are used to finance the destruction of our planet rather than the transition that is really necessary. ”