Detailed plan to meet emissions targets coming in ‘months’: environment minister

Sep 29, 2021 | 12:46 PM

OTTAWA — Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says a detailed plan showing how Canada might finally meet a greenhouse gas emissions target will be ready in a few months but not likely in time for this fall’s global climate change conference in Scotland.

Wilkinson is in Milan this week for meetings with his global counterparts to set the agenda for negotiations that will take place at the full COP meetings in Glasgow in early November.

Canada did hike its emissions targets earlier this year as required by the 2015 Paris climate agreement and was to produce a report outlining how they’ll be met by the end of the year.

Wilkinson says the “fully modelled plan” to meet those new targets is in the works but he does not expect it to be ready before COP26 starts on Nov. 1.

Eddy Pérez, the international diplomacy manager at Climate Action Network Canada, says not having the modelling before COP isn’t the end of the world but warns there is not a lot of time for Canada to delay implementing the new plans.

Canada’s emissions are higher now than they were when the government signed the Paris agreement six years ago and Pérez said the country is suffering from a reputation of having good plans on paper that never play out in reality.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2021.

Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press