COP29 primer: Canada's priorities at the global climate talks, and the Trump impact
CTV
Canada could be an important consensus builder at this year's international climate negotiations, Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault said, while downplaying concerns that Donald Trump's presidential election victory could hamper the talks.
Canada could be an important consensus builder at this year's international climate negotiations, Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault said, while downplaying concerns that Donald Trump's presidential election victory could hamper the talks.
"Our window to keep global average temperatures from surpassing 1.5 degrees Celsius is closing fast on us, so we need everyone to be pulling in the same direction," Guilbeault said in an interview ahead of the talks.
Observers expect the negotiations in Azerbaijan over the next two weeks to be contentious. Countries are set to map out new goals on climate finance and work toward new national climate plans.
Catherine Abreu, a leading Canadian climate policy expert, says there are reasons to be cynical about the outcome of those talks.
Despite 30 years of negotiating, the world's emissions are higher than ever, around 80 per cent of the global energy comes from fossil fuels, and oil lobbyists have come out in record numbers at recent summits, she said.
Yet, the talks are still "a really importance space," said Abreu, director of the International Climate Politics Hub.
"The agreements that have been made in (this) space are the bedrock of all climate policy almost worldwide," she said.
