By Canadian Press

Canada will take a ‘hard long look’ at UN call to speed emissions reduction: minister

Mar 20, 2023 | 1:40 PM

OTTAWA — Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says Canada will take a “hard long look” at a call from global climate scientists to hit its long-term greenhouse gas emissions targets 10 years earlier than planned.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued the call in a new report Monday warning the world is teetering dangerously close to missing its critical targets to keep global warming in check.

The panel’s previous reports have warned that global warming must be limited to less than 2 C, and as close to 1.5 C as possible.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres says hitting that goal is going to mean rich countries like Canada get to net-zero emissions by 2040, not by the 2050 target that most have planned around.

Guilbeault says Canada will study the report but it can’t change its targets on a whim, because a target is meaningless without a realistic plan to reach it.

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Canada has set at least eight different emissions targets since 1988, and has failed to meet any of them to date.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2023.

Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press