MONTREAL | TRADITIONAL, UNCEDED TERRITORY OF THE KANIEN’KEHÁ:KA FIRST NATION

Canada‘s new climate target falls short of what is needed to avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis, the David Suzuki Foundation says. The new target announced today — 45 to 50 per cent emissions reductions by 2035 compared to 2005 levels — is only a slight change from the current 2030 target of 40 to 45 per cent.

As the biggest per capita polluter of the G7 and fourth largest oil producer in the world, Canada needs to double down on climate policies to significantly lower emissions — by at least 50 per cent — as soon as possible, according to the David Suzuki Foundation.

Canada needs to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and stop catering to the fossil fuel industry in setting weak national targets.

Sabaa Khan, Climate Director and Director-General of Quebec and Atlantic Canada, David Suzuki Foundation, said:

“We are in a race to drastically reduce pollution and prevent the catastrophic effects of climate change, but not all sectors and provinces are doing their part. Canada’s inadequate new target reflects the fossil fuel industry’s outsized influence on our climate action. Ambitious national targets are needed to propel the transformational change we need across all sectors, markets and institutions. As a highly trade-exposed economy facing new threats from the incoming U.S. administration, Canada urgently needs to rethink how to use trade policy to support the transition to a decarbonized economy.

“The fossil fuel industry’s pollution and political influence in Canada remain the biggest obstacles to meeting any climate target, as industry continues to have a chokehold on climate policy. We need federal and provincial governments to work together to counter the deception, disinformation and science denialism of the fossil fuel sector to secure a livable future for communities throughout Canada. We need to stop the oil and gas industry’s deadly expansion and ensure its acute pollution is regulated as soon as possible. The fact that public financing worth billions of dollars in new oil, gas, coal and pipeline assets has continued through 2024 is flagrantly misaligned with securing a prosperous future for people in Canada.

“Canada’s mass production and hyper-consumption trends exacerbate fossil fuel use and pollution and threaten human health, decent work and long-term prosperity, the foundations of climate-safe communities.

“People in Canada see climate action as a non-partisan issue that requires all public and private actors to work constructively toward solutions that will build social trust in times of global insecurity and protect the quality of life for all generations. Canada’s new climate target is now our collective responsibility, and we need every political party and every province to do their part in supporting the transformational change we need so that we can accelerate emissions reductions to exceed this goal and ensure that Canada is on an immediate path to climate resilience.”

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For more information, please contact:

Melanie Karalis, mkaralis@davidsuzuki.org +1 548 588 1279

Background:

  • Under Canada’s Net Zero Emissions Accountability Act, the minister of environment and climate change was required to establish a 2035 emissions reduction target for 2035 by December 1, 2024, and the federal emissions reduction plan to meet the new target is due to be updated in 2029.
  • The Paris Agreement also requires countries to submit updated targets (“nationally determined contributions”) for 2035 by February 2025.
  • The latest science and evidence from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s sixth assessment made clear that ambitious national emission reduction targets in line with Paris Agreement objectives are necessary to avoid catastrophic near-term impacts of climate change.
  • United Nations secretary general António Guterres called on developed countries to reach net-zero emissions as close as possible to 2040.
  • Recent analysis shows that Canada’s fair share of the global climate effort for 2035 is an 80 per cent emissions reduction target.
  • At COP29, the United Kingdom, another G7 country, announced an 81 per cent climate target by 2035, following the recommendation of its climate change committee.
  • Canada’s net-zero advisory body recommends a 50 to 55 per cent emissions reduction target by 2035 compared to 2005 levels.