Updated with response from Environment Canada, and details of new assessments of Canada's INDC by other organisations.
Canada has submitted its intended contribution to the UN's forthcoming climate deal, but its new target has done little to remedy its reputation as a climate laggard.
On Friday, prime minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government pledged to cut emissions 30% on 2005 levels by 2030, as part of its intended nationally determined contribution (INDC) ahead of the 2015 agreement, which will be signed in Paris.
The document states:
"This target is ambitious but achievable. It represents a substantial reduction from Canada's business-as-usual emissions."
But the target prompted an outpouring of disappointment from NGOs, who say that the target compared unfavourably with other developed countries that have also submitted their contributions.
While the EU has pledged to reduce emissions 40% below 1990 levels, Canada's target actually represents a 6% increase if this is taken as the baseline.
Meanwhile the US has pledged a 26-28% reduction by 2025 on 2005 levels. Analysts from the World Resources Institute wrote:
For the complete article, please see CarbonBrief Blog.
At a briefing ahead of the COP25, foreign minister Heiko Maas called for higher ambition for the European Union, which should act as a role-model to encourage other states to boost their commitments to climate action. He further reiterated the importance of supporting multilateralism and an international climate regime that is able to withstand setbacks, such as the US withdrawal of the Paris Agreement.
Climate change is increasingly challenging global security and undermining peacebuilding efforts. UN Environment and the European Union have joined forces to address these challenges. With the support of adelphi, they have developed a toolkit on ‘Addressing climate-fragility risks’. This toolkit facilitates the development and implementation of strategies, policies, and projects that seek to build resilience by linking climate change adaptation, peacebuilding, and sustainable livelihoods, focusing on the pilot countries Sudan and Nepal.
Nobody needs to be convinced that climate change affects our very existence and security. However, experts are interested to know how climate change affects security at a global level and what the EU can do in that regard. This was the main aim of the European Security and Defence College (ESDC) Climate Change and Security Course co-organised by the French Institute for Higher National Defence Studies (IHEDN) and adelphi, as part of the Climate Diplomacy initiative supported by the German Federal Foreign Office, which took place in Brussels from 21 to 23 October 2019.
The new study Shoring up Stability demonstrates, for the first time, how climate change interacts with conflict and exacerbates the humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad region. To launch the report and discuss its findings with local policy-makers, experts and practitioners, the German Embassy in Niger, adelphi and CNESS co-organised a launch event on 24 October in Niamey. Insights from Niger point to the importance of investing in governance rather than technical fixes.