Canada won’t back call at COP27 to ‘phase down’ oil and gas production

Nov 17, 2022 | 11:27 AM

OTTAWA — Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says Canada will not agree to include language calling for the phaseout of all fossil fuels in the final agreement at this year’s United Nations climate talks in Egypt.

The agreement from the UN conference in Scotland last year called for countries to move faster to get rid of coal-fired electricity plants that are not abated with technology to capture emissions.

India is pushing to add oil and gas to that paragraph in this year’s final pact.

The European Union is supportive of the idea as long as it does not weaken the language on coal and the United States is on board as long as it applies only to “unabated” oil and gas.