{"id":1497,"date":"2025-03-19T09:17:53","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T13:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mydamnac.com\/wp\/?p=1497"},"modified":"2025-03-19T09:18:41","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T13:18:41","slug":"way-too-slow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mydamnac.com\/wp\/2025\/03\/19\/way-too-slow\/","title":{"rendered":"Way Too Slow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n

On February 12, 2025, Canada submitted its 2035 target under the Paris Agreement, committing to cut national emissions by 45% to 50% compared to the 2005 base year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s not much, considering that Canada is currently targeting a 40% to 45% reduction by 2030. The new target only aims to cut emissions by an additional 5% by 2035, an intended rate of 1% per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a simple math basis, that is about one-third of the rate at which Canada needs to cut emissions to reach its goal of net zero by 2050.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many observers reacted with disappointment at a target that has been described as lacking ambition. In a statement<\/a> the David Suzuki Foundation said the “slight” change from the 2030 target “… falls short of what is needed to avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caroline Brouillette, executive director of Climate Action Network Canada, characterized Canada\u2019s \u201cweak\u201d target as \u201cobeying in advance\u201d to U.S. interests<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s particularly notable about the target is that in setting it, the government rejected the official advice of its Net Zero Advisory Body (NZAB)<\/a>, a group of independent experts charged with providing advice to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 2024, the NZAB issued a report <\/a>to the minister which recommended targeting emission reductions of 50% to 55% by 2035, concluding that “targets below 50% will put Canada behind on its legislated objective of net-zero emissions by mid-century”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For their part, Government officials defend the target as being achievable in the context of our current political uncertainty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comments by Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson suggest that Canadian officials issued a weaker-than-expected 2035 emission reduction target following Donald Trump’s election in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCertainly, the United States does factor into the competitiveness issue,\u201d he said, speaking to the National Observer<\/a>. \u201cClearly, the United States is moving away from any kind of regulation relating to climate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does Canada’s ambition stack up to peers?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environmental Defence, an environmental advocacy group, says that Canada’s “disappointing target cements Canada\u2019s position as a global climate laggard.<\/a>” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While every country has a different set of challenges and opportunities when setting targets, it does seem clear that Canada’s climate ambitions lag well below those of our G7 peers and major trading partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In November, the United Kingdom set a goal to\u00a0slash 81%<\/a>\u00a0of its emissions by 2035 compared to 1990 levels, a<\/span> significant step up from its 2030 target to cut emissions by at least 68 %.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EU is currently targeting a 55% reduction by 2030. While they have not officially committed to their next target, they are reportedly considering a target of reducing emissions by 90% below 1990 levels<\/a> by 2040<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japan has committed to a 60% reduction below 2013 levels and a 73% reduction by 2040.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initial assessments by the climate councils in Australia and New Zealand, with legislated mandates to advise on targets, have suggested that 2035 targets of 65% to 75% and up to 69% below 2005 levels, respectively, would be ambitious but achievable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even the US has committed to a greater climate ambition than Canada, although its targets are now in peril. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December 2024, then-President Joe Biden officially set the United States 2035 emission reduction target at 61% to 66% below 2005 levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while the newly elected President Trump has set in motion the process to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement, he has not yet moved to scrap that target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canadians pride themselves on being forward-thinking leaders with integrity and ambition. But when it comes to climate change, it\u2019s clear we\u2019re not doing enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The one silver lining is that Canada\u2019s targets aren\u2019t set in stone\u2014they can be revised at any time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, for instance, Canada chose to strengthen its 2030 emissions target, increasing our aim from a 30% reduction to the current 40% -45% goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s ask our leaders to step up again and raise the bar for 2035.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Canada’s targeted rate of emissions cuts lags its peers and is not enough to reach net zero by 2050.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":{"post_category":"National Emissions Targets","sub_heading":"Canada's targeted rate of emissions cuts lags its peers and is not enough to reach net zero by 2050."},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mydamnac.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Snail.png?fit=1381%2C819&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mydamnac.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mydamnac.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mydamnac.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mydamnac.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mydamnac.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1497"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/mydamnac.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1506,"href":"https:\/\/mydamnac.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1497\/revisions\/1506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mydamnac.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mydamnac.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mydamnac.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mydamnac.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}