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.
In this interview, EcoPeace Directors Nada Majdalani (Palestine), Yana Abu-Taleb (Jordan) and Gidon Bromberg (Israel) explain why disengaging from a shared environment can aggravate the region’s security challenges.
At the conclusion of the 50th Pacific Islands Forum, Pacific leaders issued a Forum Communiqué and the ‘Kainaki II Declaration for Urgent Climate Change Action Now’ – the strongest collective statement the Forum has issued on climate change. Pacific leaders highlight the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit, the SAMOA Pathway Review, and 25th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 25) to the UNFCCC as “global turning points to ensure meaningful, measurable and effective climate change action”.
If ratified, the Mercosur-EU trade deal may reinforce the parties’ commitment to climate action. Yet, its potential relevance is weakened by a language that often stops short of concrete commitments, as well as political resistance.
Iraq is on the verge of an environmental breakdown, and climate change is not helping. The country's fragile environment and the increasing scarcity of natural resources — particularly water — are a result of poor environmental management, as well as several political and historical factors. However, as climate change impacts add to the existing pressures, the environmental collapse turns into a security issue.