By Ismail Shakil
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada will aim to cut emissions by 45–50% below 2005 levels by 2035, the environment ministry announced on Thursday, setting a new transitory target before the Paris Agreement’s 2050 goal of net-zero emissions.
The new target, a requirement under Canadian law passed by the Liberal government, builds upon a goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40% to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030.
“This target keeps us on track to keep the promise to our kids and grandkids that the world we leave behind for them will be safe, sustainable, affordable and prosperous,” Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said in a statement.
A leading oil and gas producer, Canada has missed every one of its greenhouse gas emission targets.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, which has introduced a raft of measures intended to address climate change and boost the use of green energy, said in May that data suggested the country was on track to achieving its 2030 target.
The Canadian Climate Institute said on Thursday that the 2035 target “is achievable and balances the need for sustained progress cutting emissions.”
Some climate groups, however, said the new targets were not ambitious enough.
The David Suzuki Foundation said the new climate target was short of what is needed to avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis, while the Pembina Institute said governments and industries must be “more ambitious to fully enhance our competitiveness in the new global clean energy economy.”
The Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, passed in 2021, requires the government to publish the 2035 emissions reduction plan by 2029-end.
Canada faces a federal election within the next year, which polls suggest Trudeau’s Liberals will lose to the opposition Conservatives. The conservatives have criticized climate measures including an emissions cap on the oil and gas sector.
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa and Nia Williams in British Columbia; Editing by Alistair Bell)
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