Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will not participate in the UN climate conference (COP27) which begins in a few days in Egypt, according to what his cabinet confirmed on Wednesday at the To have to. Nearly a hundred heads of state and government will take part in this summit, which should make it possible to advance international cooperation against the climate crisis.
The federal government said Wednesday that Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault will lead the Canadian delegation to COP27, which is being held from November 6 to 18 in Sharm el-Sheikh.
“Canada has made great progress in addressing climate change since the Paris Agreement came into force, both at home and abroad, alongside our international partners. But in reality, global efforts must radically intensify,” Mr. Guilbeault argued in a written statement.
This major UN climate meeting will bring together some 190 countries which will participate “in important negotiations and dialogues on the subject of the fight against climate change and adaptation to its impacts”, the government specified.
The Canadian delegation on site will include the “ambassador for climate change”, Catherine Stewart, as well as the chief climate negotiator, Steven Kuhn. Parliamentarians will also be there, as well as representatives of various provinces, in particular.
Justin Trudeau will not be there, however, it has been confirmed. “Leaders don’t usually attend every summit,” the Prime Minister’s Office said. It was also noted that Canada will host the next UN Biodiversity Conference in December (COP15), “underscoring our continued commitment to addressing climate change at home and with our international partners.”
heads of government
The official list of Heads of State and Government who will speak at the COP27 podium at the beginning of next week includes nearly a hundred names. These include European leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Several African leaders will also be present, but also from South America, the Middle East and Asia. US President Joe Biden is also due to attend the conference.
COP27 will be held in a tense international geopolitical context, with the war in Ukraine, energy issues in Europe, inflation and the pandemic. The political meeting is nonetheless critical, due to the accumulated delays in terms of climate ambition, which are still hampering the objective of tackling the worst environmental crisis in history.
Assuming that all countries respect their current commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, global warming could reach nearly 3°C, whereas the objective of the international agreement signed in Paris in 2015 is to limit to a maximum of 1.5°C. This is more “fragile than ever”, the President of COP27, the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sameh Shoukry, recently acknowledged.
“Climate Chaos”
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicates in its most recent report that, to hope to limit global warming to an average of 1.5°C, it would be necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (GHG) by 43% by 2030, compared to the level of 2019.
The Trudeau government announced earlier this year a 40% reduction target by 2030, compared to 2005. This means that the country would then have to emit 443 million tonnes (Mt) of GHGs. If the target set out in the IPCC report were applied here, emissions should reach 416 Mt in 2030. The difference, or 27 Mt, is equivalent to the annual emissions of 11 million cars.
At the beginning of October, the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, also criticized the slowness of the developed States to act to reduce their emissions. “Climate chaos is galloping, but climate action has stalled,” he said.
He also denounced the delay and shortcomings of the collective commitments of the governments of the G20 (of which Canada is a member), which in the current state jeopardize the chances of limiting the increase in global temperature. “It is a matter of life and death, for our safety today and for our survival tomorrow,” he insisted.