(Ottawa) Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault announced on Thursday the signing of a new memorandum of understanding with India to improve cooperation between the two states in the fight against climate change.
Posted at 8:56 p.m.
For the Minister, this agreement represents an opportunity for Canada to export new renewable energy technologies and more particularly to make renewable energies reliable sources of electricity.
However, the memorandum of understanding does not even mention coal-based power despite Canada’s position as a world leader in the movement to eradicate coal-based electricity generation. In the case of India, it is the second largest producer and consumer of coal on the planet.
Mr. Guilbeault specified in an interview that the memorandum of understanding was the fruit of long-term efforts by Canadian and Indian representatives as well as following a meeting between Minister Guilbeault and his Indian counterpart Bhupender Yadav in United Nations climate summit in Scotland last November.
The final details have been settled on the sidelines of the climate summit taking place this week in Sweden to mark 50 years since the very first UN conference on the environment.
This 1972 conference marked the first step in a global collaboration to put environmental protection on the list of priorities.
Under the memorandum of understanding, the two countries promise “to collaborate, exchange information and expertise, and support their respective ambition in a host of areas, including building renewable energy, decarbonization of heavy industries, reduction of plastic pollution, support for sound management of chemicals and sustainable consumption”.
Steven Guilbeault refused to “point the finger” at India and its environmental record, saying he recognized the major growth challenges facing the country whose large population requires enormous energy consumption.
“What we can do is work with them to help them accelerate their decarbonization by increasing their renewable energy capacity,” he said.
Coal is considered one of the most damaging energy sources. It would be responsible for producing about 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2020.
In 2017, Canada and the United Kingdom created the “Powering Past Coal alliance” project, which was joined by a total of 48 countries. This alliance aims to eliminate coal-based energy in developed countries by 2030 and in the rest of the world by 2050.
GHG emissions from coal have fallen from 109 million tonnes in 2000 to 35 million tonnes in 2020.
However, India is seeing the opposite trend as the rapid growth of its economy and population as well as its efforts to electrify the whole country have necessitated a sustained reliance on coal.
Coal accounts for more than half of India’s energy production and related GHG emissions have nearly tripled between 2000 and 2020.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pushing for a renewable energy program, but his promise to produce 175 gigawatts of renewable energy by the end of the year is far from being fulfilled.
Steven Guilbeault mentioned that while coal was not on the menu this time around, Canada wants to do everything to export its expertise in renewable energy technologies to help India get out of its dependence on coal.