Canada submits climate pledge to UN for key Paris summit

Canada submitted its official climate pledge to the UN on Friday for the major COP21 Paris summit in December and will aim to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government said it formally submitted its plans to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ahead of the major climate change conference later this year.

According to the new commitment, Canada will cut its emissions to 515 metric megatonnes by 2030.

Canada’s emissions totalled 726 metric megatonnes in 2013, and in 2005 — the baseline year Canada uses in its new pledge — total emissions reached 731 metric megatonnes.

The announcement on Friday also included the governments “intention to develop new regulatory measures” for the oil, gas, and chemical industries.

Leona Aglukkaq, Canada’s Environment Minister, called the pledge “fair and ambitious,” and said that the new regulations “underscore our continued commitment to cut emissions at home and work with our international partners to establish an international agreement in Paris that includes meaningful and transparent commitments from all major emitters.”

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the New York-based environmental group, voiced concern about the new commitments with Canada set to fall short of meeting its 2020 emissions reductions targets.

A report last year found that without new policies being introduced, Canada wouldn’t meet its Copenhagen Accord target to reduce its emissions 17 per cent by 2020, compared to 2005 levels.

Prime Minister Harper has been criticised during his eight years in office for his lack of strong climate policies.

The U.S. has committed to a 26 per cent to 28 per cent cut by 2025 from 2005 levels.

The EU has submitted plans to reduce GHG emissions by 35 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

Japan has pledged to cut its emissions by up to 26 per cent by 2030.

China, the world's largest emitter, has not submitted its commitment yet, but has set a target for its emissions to peak by 2030 in a joint pledge made with the U.S. last November.

A new international framework replacing the 1997 Kyoto Protocol is to be discussed at the Paris summit and a historic global binding climate agreement is due to be signed by nearly 200 states.

Canada has the world's third-largest oil reserves, with more than 170 billion barrels and reports suggest that daily production could more than double by 2025.