Minister Guilbeault begins climate and environment meetings in Europe to advance international cooperation

BERLIN, May 25, 2022 /CNW/ - Canada is driving ambitious action with international partners to fight climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. To keep delivering for people around the world, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, will advance Canada's leadership internationally for cooperation at three important back-to-back gatherings in Europe over the coming week.

At these meetings, Minister Guilbeault will push for strong international action to achieve the Paris Agreement goals and keep a 1.5°C temperature rise within reach. Leading on climate action starts at home, which is why Minister Guilbeault will share the details of Canada's new 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan. He will also advocate for agreement on a new global biodiversity framework, and agreement on measures to reduce pollution, including a new legally binding global agreement on plastic waste. International collaboration is the only way to achieve a net-zero economy for the future while protecting the environment and conserving biodiversity for today.

On May 26 and 27, Minister Guilbeault and the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, will participate in the G7 Climate, Energy and Environment Ministerial in Berlin, Germany. At the G7, and through many bilateral meetings, the ministers will address a range of issues, including climate action and financing; supporting Europe's accelerated transition to clean energy; conserving and restoring biodiversity; ocean health; and reducing plastic pollution while developing the circular economy.

On May 30 and 31, Canada will host the Ministerial on Climate Action (MoCA6) in Stockholm, Sweden. Canada is a co-convener of the MoCA6 with China and the EU. The meeting will bring together climate ministers and their representatives from over 30 key countries to advance implementation of the Paris Agreement. Minister Guilbeault will encourage countries to take up the Prime Minister's challenge at COP26, to adopt carbon pricing systems.

On June 2 and 3, Minister Guilbeault will co-chair the Stockholm+50 meeting, five decades since the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. Along with fellow co-chair Gustavo Manrique, Ecuador's Minister of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition, Minister Guilbeault will host a Leadership Dialogue on the theme of Reflecting on the urgent need for actions to achieve a healthy planet and prosperity of all. He will also deliver Canada's National Statement and meet with stakeholders, including Canada's youth delegation.  

Canada's participation in these international fora will be key to building momentum ahead of the future Convention on Biological Diversity COP15 and the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2022, COP27, later this year.

Quotes

"As we face the triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, Canada is leading on the world stage. These conferences in Europe come at a crucial time for international partners to commit to concrete action on climate and environmental protection. The Earth can't wait. All of us must do more to build a clean and healthy planet. Together, we can build the net-zero economy of the future, while safeguarding our environment for generations to come. For clean air. For good jobs. For a bright future."

– The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change

Quick facts

• The G7 brings together Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. Germany, as this year's G7 President, has invited Indonesia to attend this meeting as a guest country.
• Canada hosted the first co-convened Canada, China, and EU Ministerial on Climate Action (MoCA) in Montréal in 2017.
• The 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan is a roadmap for sector-by-sector emission reductions with the measures needed for Canada to reach its ambitious and achievable emissions reduction targets of 40-45 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, and net-zero emissions by 2050, in a fair and affordable way.
• Canada has adopted carbon pricing as a cornerstone of its climate plan to reach net zero by 2050, recently reinforced by the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan. The carbon price in Canada is currently at $50 per tonne of CO₂ equivalent and will increase by $15 annually to reach $170 per tonne in 2030. A price on carbon pollution is widely recognized as the most efficient means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also driving innovation. At COP26, Prime Minister Trudeau encouraged countries worldwide to adopt carbon pricing more broadly to triple the coverage of emissions to 60 percent by 2030.
• In 2021, the Government of Canada committed $4.1 billion to nature protection, including an additional $2.3 billion over five years for Canada's Enhanced Nature Legacy, to continue supporting nature conservation measures across the country, including Indigenous leadership in conservation.
• Canada supports an ambitious post-2020 global biodiversity framework to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and achieve full recovery for nature by 2050.
• Canada is proud to have worked in advance of, and during the recent UNEA-5.2 meetings in Nairobi to help deliver the historic UN resolution, both as one of the co-facilitators with Ghana on plastics, and in our national capacity. Canada stands ready to work with all countries and partners towards developing an ambitious international legally binding agreement to end plastic pollution.
• Canadian Maurice Strong was appointed as Secretary-General for the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment and later became the first Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Associated links

• UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 
• UN resolution to end plastic pollution
• Paris Agreement
• Convention on Biological Diversity 
• Stockholm+50 
• 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan: Clean Air, Strong Economy

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SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada

Kaitlin Power, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, 819-230-1557, [email protected]; Media Relations, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 819-938-3338 or 1-844-836-7799 (toll-free), [email protected]; Media Relations, Natural Resources Canada, 343-292-6100, [email protected]; Keean Nembhard, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Natural Resources, 613-323-7892, [email protected]