The federal government spent at least $1.77 million to send a delegation to attend a United Nations Climate Change Conference in Egypt last November, according to information tabled in the House of Commons.
The 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) was held in the resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh from Nov. 6 to to 20.
The government spent a total of at least $1,077,126 on hotels or accommodations, $622,353 on flight tickets, $31,429 on taxi or bus services, $26,960 on food, and $4,152 on hospitality. Another $10,490 was filed under “other costs.”
The information was provided further to a request from Conservative Party MP Gérard Deltell.
Deltell asked how many individuals were part of the Canadian delegation, the titles of all individuals for whom the government paid expenses, as well as the carbon footprint resulting from the trip.
The response was filed in an Inquiry of Ministry on Jan. 30 and signed by the Minister of Environment Steven Guilbeault, the most senior Canadian official to attend the conference.
The Canada Pavilion Delegation list includes 153 individuals.
The website says COP27 was an “opportunity to showcase Canadian climate action” and that the Liberal government is “committed to taking a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach” on the issue.
The Inquiry of Ministry says that the federal government only covered the cost of its employees, some youth, indigenous, and civil society representatives.
The document says the financial costs provided reflect what the participating departments had recorded in the system as of Nov. 21, a day after the conference ended.
“Therefore, the amounts in the table do not reflect final costs.”
Regarding the amount of carbon emitted by the federal government to attend a climate conference with a sizeable delegation, Environment Canada says the data is only available on a departmental basis.
Also ministerial travel is not booked through the centralized system and is therefore not captured.
Environment Canada “purchases carbon offset credits in bulk, not by travel to a specific conference or event, to help mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions associated with necessary air travel by the Minister and members of the Minister’s exempt staff,” says the document.
The government started tracking the departments’ emissions of green house gases in 2018 and requires that its organizations that produce over 1 kilotonne (kt) per year in air travel contribute $50 per tonne annually to the Greening Government Fund.
The Department of National Defence (DND) is the largest emitter for fiscal year 2021-2022 with 37.6 kt of emissions.
The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) arrives in second at 8.4 and Environment Canada registered 0.8 kt.
