Question Period Note: International Climate Change Leadership

International Climate Change Leadership

• Climate change knows no borders. That is why Canada is working with international partners to ensure the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement by providing $2.65 billion in support for developing countries—particularly the poorest and most vulnerable—in their efforts to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

• The Government of Canada is also advancing complementary global initiatives that enable the transition toward a low-carbon and sustainable future, such as in the areas of carbon pricing, coal phase-out, and clean technology.

• Canada recognizes that effective climate action requires a multifaceted approach. The Government of Canada is taking a leadership role internationally on oceans resilience and nature protection by making significant contributions to fighting climate change and adapting to its impacts.

• The Government of Canada will also continue to ensure that Indigenous People can actively contribute to climate actions at home and internationally, recognizing their unique perspective and traditional knowledge on climate change.

PARIS AGREEMENT

• Addressing climate change requires efforts by the entire international community. Following years of debate centered on securing political commitments from all countries to reduce their emissions, the Paris Agreement was adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2015. In total, the 186 Parties that have ratified the Agreement account for more than 95% of GHG emissions. Under the Agreement countries agreed to collectively strengthen the global response to climate change, including by:

o Limiting global warming to well below 2°C, while also pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C;
o Increasing the international communities ability to adapt to the impacts of climate change;
o Making global financial flows consistent with low-carbon and climate resilient development.

• The Paris Agreement marked a turning point in multilateral cooperation on climate change and has become the primary driver of global climate action, with commitments from all countries to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Given the significance of this Agreement and increasing push for ambition, all major emitters, including Canada, will be looked upon to demonstrate implementation of the Agreement and of their individual obligations.

KEY ELEMENTS OF THE PARIS AGREEMENT IN BRIEF

MITIGATION OF GHGS:

• All Parties to the Agreement must submit GHG emission reduction targets (referred to as nationally determined contributions or NDCs) and update these targets every five years. Each country determines its own NDC to reflect their most ambitious effort in accordance with their national circumstances. Each successive NDC must also be more ambitious than the previous one. This is the ambition cycle of the Paris Agreement, which will encourage progressively deeper cuts in global emissions over time. Canada’s NDC adopts a target to reduce its emissions by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030. Canada is legally required to submit its next NDC by 2025.

ADAPTATION TO THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE:

• The Agreement encourages all countries to take steps to build their resilience to the adverse impacts of climate change, reduce their vulnerability, and work collectively to avert, minimize, and address losses and damages resulting from climate impacts.

SUPPORT FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES:

• The provision of financial and other support to help developing countries implement climate policies is an issue of central importance in multilateral climate negotiations. In 2009, donor countries from the developed world, including Canada, agreed to a collective climate finance goal of mobilizing US$100 billion per year by 2020 from public and private sources to support climate action in developing countries. The establishment of this finance goal, and the progress demonstrated by donors in achieving it, was critical to achieving political compromise in Paris and securing legally binding commitments from all Parties.
• Mobilizing additional climate finance beyond current levels will be important for maintaining lasting political support for the implementation of the Agreement among developing countries. As a donor country, Canada will face strong pressures to scale up its current climate finance commitments.

TRANSPARENCY:

• The Paris Agreement also requires all countries to regularly report on their GHG emissions, climate action, and progress towards their NDCs. This system will help build trust among countries that each of them is implementing their commitments. This reporting will also be used to track collective progress, collect data to strengthen global climate science, and inform countries’ future efforts and NDCs. In addition to common reporting requirements for all, donor countries are required to provide estimates of future climate finance to be provided.

• In December 2019, COP25 will take place in Madrid, Spain, following the withdrawal from Chile. COP25 will continue to focus on advancing the implementation of the Paris Agreement as well as on enhancing global ambition on climate change. In particular, finalizing guidance on the use of international carbon markets (Article 6 of the Paris Agreement) will be a priority negotiating issue for Parties at COP25. Canada has advocated strongly for robust guidance to ensure that international carbon markets have credibility and can drive further ambition.

EXAMPLES OF COMPLEMENTARY INITIATIVES

CARBON PRICING LEADERSHIP COALITION (CPLC):

• The CPLC is a group of national and sub-national governments, businesses, and civil society groups working to promote the successful implementation of carbon pricing around the world. CPLC partners share experiences and expand the evidence base for effective carbon pricing systems and policies, holding working groups and regional workshops on specific topics, often on the margins of international meetings. Canada has been a partner since 2015 and Canada has chaired the CPLC in the past.

MINISTERIAL MEETINGS ON CLIMATE ACTION (MOCA):

• Ministerial meetings on climate action are co-hosted by Canada, China, and the European Union. They bring together key partners to advance the goals of the Paris Agreement. The MOCA 2019 focused on exploring how to scale-up actions, mobilize investment from the private sector and enhance global ambition. Participants include ministers and other representatives from major economies and key climate change leaders. MOCA also provides a forum to discuss the economic opportunities with global business leaders.

POWERING PAST COAL ALLIANCE (PPCA):

• Building on its domestic leadership on coal phase-out, Canada co-founded the PPCA with the United Kingdom in 2017, the world’s first and only government-led initiative focused on accelerating clean growth and climate protection through the rapid phase-out of unabated coal power (i.e., coal power generated without operational carbon capture and storage). In close collaboration with its broad membership –which includes national and sub-national governments, businesses and organisations– the PPCA plays a pivotal role in driving global ambition on energy transition needed to meet the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.

Question Period notes as provided by the Department to the Minister’s Office