Question Period Note: Canada’s Participation at COP27

Canada’s Participation at COP27

• Scientists agree the world must accelerate efforts in this decade to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.
• Canadians are already experiencing climate change firsthand, from historical flooding, heat waves, wildfires and hurricanes impacting many communities.
• It was essential that Canada had a voice at the United Nations Climate Change Conferences to demonstrate that we are steadfast in driving the transition to a net-zero and resilient economy to protect Canadians.
• I am proud of work accomplished by the Canadian delegation at COP27 last fall who were steadfast in advocating for ambitious global action, learned from international partners, and created new opportunities for Canadian actors.
• At COP27, Canada and nearly 200 other countries reached agreement on the Sharm El-Sheikh Implementation Plan, the next step forward for climate ambition under the Paris Agreement.
• Canada led several new initiatives to advance greater global ambition on climate change, including working with the U.S. to address methane emissions and challenging the world to follow Canada’s footsteps on pricing carbon pollution. Canada also joined and announced support for several strategic initiatives, including on adaptation and food security.
• Canada played a key role in ensuring that loss and damage was included on the formal agenda for COP27, ultimately leading to a monumental development to assist developing countries in responding to the adverse effects of climate change.
• Moving forward, Canada will continue to advocate for ambitious global action on climate change and reinforce the importance of a rights-based approach to climate action around the world.
• I look forward to continuing these important discussions this fall at COP28.

• The twenty-seventh Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) took place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, from November 6th to the 18th, 2022. Canada’s delegation was led by Minister Steven Guilbeault, supported by Canada’s Climate Change Ambassador for Climate Change and Canada’s Chief Negotiator for Climate Change. The delegation included officials from federal departments delivering on climate commitments at home and abroad; 4 opposition MPs and 3 Senators from different caucuses; representatives from civil society organizations, business, labour, most provinces and territories as well as Indigenous representatives and youth. This year a member of the new Environment and Climate Change Youth Council joined Canada’s delegation to COP27.
• At COP27, Canada and over 190 other countries reached agreement on the Sharm El-Sheikh Implementation Plan, the next step forward for climate ambition under the Paris Agreement. Canada fought hard to maintain the global resolve to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C, to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. As part of this resolve, Canada reiterated our commitment to phase out fossil fuel subsidies by 2023, two years earlier than the G20 commitment. We are also on track to eliminate coal-fired energy at home by 2030. During a global energy crisis, we are more committed than ever to support the global transition to cleaner, renewable forms of energy, by transitioning away from our dependency on fossil fuels.
• Canada was proud to have released the Climate Finance Delivery Plan Progress Report with Germany ahead of COP27. This Report was produced, at the request of COP26 President Alok Sharma, to provide further transparency on developed countries’ commitment towards the goal to jointly mobilize USD100 billion per year in climate finance. Canada remains steadfast in its commitment, working in partnership with other developed countries, to reach the goal as soon as possible and through 2025. At COP27, the Report was welcomed by many stakeholders, including the COP27 Presidency, as an important demonstration of goodwill and commitment to the goal.
• Canada was also an early advocate for the need for COP27 to make progress on the issue of loss and damage, and to include it on the formal agenda for COP27. Canada rallied together with developed and developing nations to establish new funding arrangements for assisting developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, including a new fund for responding to loss and damage.
• Through its $5.3 billion climate finance commitment, and through other funding envelopes, Canada announced several initiatives amounting to $84.25 million in funding including clean energy transition and coal phase-out, loss and damage, access to climate finance, climate governance, gender equality and inclusivity, methane and small developing states, and action on carbon pricing and clean energy.
• In addition to joining several strategic initiatives at COP27 such as the Ocean Conservation Pledge, the Initiative on Climate Action and Nutrition, and the Least Developed Countries initiative for Effective Adaptation and Resilience, Canada also rolled out the Prime Minister’s Global Carbon Pricing Challenge. New Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom are among countries that are considering, or have already made, carbon pricing key to their approach in fighting climate change.
• At COP27, Canada would have liked to have seen stronger references to human rights and the specific rights of Indigenous Peoples and to the importance of traditional knowledge in achieving climate ambition. Moving forward, Canada will continue to reinforce the importance of a rights-based approach to climate action around the world.

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