Enshrining COP15 Climate Targets in Legislation a ‘Next Step’ for Canada, Says Environment Minister

Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault speaks during question period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Nov. 22, 2022. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

The federal government will look to enshrine in legislation certain “climate action” targets outlined at the U.N. Biodiversity Conference (COP15) held in Montreal, according to Climate Change and Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, who called the future actions a “next step” for Canada.

“I think the next step for many of our countries, including mine in Canada, is to develop legislation to enshrine the targets that we’ve agreed to here in Montreal,” said Guilbeault during a COP15 press conference on Dec. 20.

“We’re doing it—we already have an accountability act for our climate change targets,” he added. “So it makes absolute sense that we should have an accountability act in Canada for our biodiversity targets.”

Guilbeault was referring to a number of new targets for 2030 outlined at COP15, chaired by China and hosted by Canada, which came to a close on Dec. 19.

The targets include a plan to protect 30 percent of all the world’s water and land within the next seven years and another to cut in half global food waste, among a number of other investments.

“Phasing out or reforming subsidies that harm biodiversity by at least $500 billion per year” is one of the COP15 biodiversity targets, while another is to mobilize “at least $200 billion per year from public and private sources for biodiversity-related funding.”

“These are the minimum thresholds for the survival of nature, the climate, and humanity,” said Guilbeault in a statement on Dec. 15. “The ultimate goal? Nothing short of nature’s full recovery by 2050.”

Accountability Act

Earlier this year, Canada and California signed a memorandum reinforcing their cooperation on climate policies, which focus heavily on “climate action” and biodiversity loss.

“Canadians and Americans need to—Californians need to—continue to have confidence that we are moving forward, and that nobody should ever be empowered to move us back,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on June 9, adding that the climate policies should remain permanent even through changes in government.

The federal government’s current climate plan includes a target of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 and another one to reduce GHG emissions from Canada’s oil and gas sector by at least 40 percent by 2025—both of which are legislated in the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act.

The climate policy accountability act “establishes a requirement to set national emissions reduction targets for 2035, 2040, and 2045, ten years in advance” and “each target will require credible, science-based emissions reduction plans to achieve it,” according to a government paper.

The federal government has said it will not mandate all of the targets proposed in its 2020 climate plan, such as its goal to reduce nitrogen fertilizer emissions by 30 percent below 2020 levels by 2030.

However, Canada’s oil and gas sector could see new climate regulations introduced as soon as next year, according to Guilbeault, who said the government plans on soon bringing in a cap on GHG emissions for the sector.

The cap would hold the sector “accountable for its emissions” and require them to adopt new practices aligned with Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan, according to the federal government.

Noé Chartier contributed to this report.