OTTAWA – Canada’s contribution to a major United Nations climate change conference later this year will be heavily dependent on actions by provincial and territorial governments.
Environment Canada has been collecting greenhouse-gas reduction measures from across the country as the federal government works toward an end-of-March deadline to ante up for the summit, scheduled for Paris in December.
A spokesman for federal Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq says provinces and territories hold many of the levers for taking action to cut emissions and those actions will factor into Canada’s global commitment.
But with the Harper government under pressure for refusing to regulate the oil and gas sector, federal-provincial co-operation may be Ottawa’s only way to save face in Paris.
Some of Canada’s biggest provinces are meeting or exceeding their own goals for GHG reductions and are increasingly taking matters into their own hands.
Ontario Environment Minister Glen Murray says many subnational governments from around the world are cutting emissions and joining forces to put pressure on the UN climate conference, where the next major climate change treaty is supposed to be signed.
(The Canadian Press)