Countries around the world, including Canada, are officially under pressure to further ratchet up their commitments under the Paris Agreement, the UN’s climate change executive secretary Simon Stiell told delegates at the annual climate negotiations in Dubai.
The latest grim findings from climate scientists estimate that based on current trajectories, the planet has roughly six years before blowing past the Paris Agreement’s goal to hold global warming to 1.5 C, Stiell said during the COP28 opening ceremony.
Earlier this month, the CEO of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) stood before the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and pledged our national retirement fund’s continued support for the Alberta oil and gas industry.
“This (IEA) report is a stunning rebuke to all the Canadian oil executives and politicians claiming that they can simply slap on some government-funded carbon capture and continue with business as usual in a world rapidly weaning itself off of oil and gas," said Keith Stewart, senior energy strategist for Greenpeace Canada, in an email Thursday.
“At the end of the day, that’s still counting on the market … to build out these industries and then hoping the benefits trickle down to workers and to communities and to people,” he said. But Mertins-Kirkwood stressed the crux of the issue is time. “If we had 100 years to decarbonize, I’d say it’s better to take it slow and let the market figure it out, but every month counts right now.”
Liberal government set to miss 2030 emissions targets, says environment commissioner audit
'We found that the measures most critical for reducing emissions had not been identified or prioritized'
The federal government is set to miss its 2030 target to cut carbon emissions by at least 40 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, according to the latest audit from the commissioner of the environment's office.
