With Canada scrambling to finalize its greenhouse gas reduction targets ahead of the UN climate summit in Paris in December, Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq is accusing provincial and territorial governments of letting down the side with their 2020 carbon targets.
Aglukkaq wrote to the provinces and territories last Friday, just days before the premiers’ climate summit in Quebec City. “When the provincial gaps are tallied up, they amount to 109 megatonnes, which is just seven megatonnes short of the amount by which Canada will not meet its commitment for 2020,” CBC writes. British Columbia and Alberta are falling farthest short of their targets.
Environmental Defence Program Manager Dale Marshall noted that the provinces have done most of the work to cut Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions. “For those provinces to now be turned to by the federal government and asked, ‘What are you going to do for us now?’ seems irresponsible,” he told CBC. “For the letter to come this late…seems very much like a deflection away from the federal government and its responsibilities.” (h/t to Alex Wood for pointing us to this story)
