Canadian officials at COP27 intend to advance the climate finance agenda for developing countries and engage in “robust discussions” on “loss and damage” related to climate change impacts, one of the main challenges of the international meeting.
After arriving in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, where he is leading Canada’s delegation, Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said he expected “strong conversations” during the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, which runs until November 18.
“We are here to be productive partners and to help scale up climate action,” Mr. Guilbeault said Tuesday at a press conference from the Egyptian seaside resort.
Canada and Germany are hosting an event on Wednesday where they will present an update on financial support for the most vulnerable countries to fight and adapt to the climate crisis. The two countries are co-authors of a report on the steps needed to meet the commitment of developed nations to jointly disburse US$100 billion a year to poor southern states.
“It is a question of removing bureaucratic obstacles to access to project financing, increasing transparency on individual national objectives and better mobilizing private financing and multilateral development banks”, mentioned the Liberal elected official. .
Canada has pledged in 2021 to double its overseas climate finance commitment to $5.3 billion over the next five years.
Mr. Guilbeault added that “in-depth” discussions must also take place on the issue of “loss and damage”, the addition of which to the agenda of the COP27 negotiations was supported by Canada. The idea here is to establish a financial compensation mechanism for the damage caused by climate change in developing countries.
This issue has been proving sensitive for years as wealthy nations, including the United States, have resisted the concept of climate reparations.
Implementation COP
The federal minister recalled that the current COP is that of implementation and that governments must now accelerate their efforts to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Delegations from around the world are meeting to implement commitments made with the Paris Agreement, to ideally limit the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
With this in mind, Canada is coming with “its most detailed plan” which shows the targets by sector of activity, argued Mr. Guilbeault.
“This year alone, we have adopted or are in the process of adopting five or six different regulations: the zero emissions law, the carbon-neutral electricity network by 2035, the cap on greenhouse gas emissions” and the reduction of at least 75% of methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 2030, he notably listed.
“I challenge anyone to find a time in the history of the country when we have had so much activity on the issue of climate change, whether in terms of regulations or investments,” defended the minister. .
The absence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the event does not seem to worry him about the perception that this could leave of the real will of Canada in its environmental commitments.
In the Minister’s view, his support for carbon pricing and the holding of COP15 on biodiversity in Montreal next December demonstrates the importance that Mr. Trudeau attaches to these issues.
“I will not be able to do a third of what I do as Minister of the Environment if it were not for the support of the Prime Minister,” argued Mr. Guilbeault.
This article was produced with the financial support of the Meta Fellowships and The Canadian Press for News.