• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
  FEATURED
Renewables ‘Set to Soar’ with 440 GW of New Installations in 2023: IEA June 4, 2023
Greek Industrial Giant Announces 1.4-GW Alberta Solar Farm, Canada’s Biggest June 4, 2023
Shift to Remote Work Cuts Commutes, Frees Downtown Space for Affordable Housing June 4, 2023
2.7M Hectares Lost, Nova Scotia at Ground Zero in ‘Unprecedented’ Early Wildfire Season June 4, 2023
Is Equinor’s Bay du Nord ‘Delay’ a Cancellation in Slow Motion? June 1, 2023
Next
Prev

Canada, EU Agree to Prevent ‘Vacuum of Leadership’ on Climate

March 6, 2017
Reading time: 4 minutes
Primary Author: Mitchell Beer @mitchellbeer

Catherine McKenna/Facebook

Catherine McKenna/Facebook

 
Delegation of the European Union to Canada

Canada must step up and assume global leadership on climate change in the face of “geopolitical uncertainties” facing the Paris agreement, European Union Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete said during a two-day visit to Ottawa last week.

“There cannot be a vacuum of leadership in climate change policy because climate change policies need leadership who show the way and who make other people move,” Cañete told CBC’s The House, in the midst of meetings with Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna. “That is the role of Canada. And the close alliance of Canada and the European Union will be very useful to maintain the spirit of Paris and support the enforcement of the Paris rules in the future. We are going to work together closely.”

  • Concise headlines. Original content. Timely news and views from a select group of opinion leaders. Special extras.
  • Everything you need, nothing you don’t.
  • The Weekender: The climate news you need.
Subscribe

Canadian Press observes that McKenna “has kept a noticeably lower profile on Canada-U.S. relations since Trump’s victory in November.” While Cañete didn’t refer to the new U.S. administration by name, he acknowledged to CBC host Chris Hall that “there was a very clear leadership of President Obama, a personal involvement,” but “that spirit of leadership, of involvement, will probably not be the same.”

Against that reality, “Canada and the EU are very serious about fulfilling their targets” on climate, Cañete said. “I am absolutely convinced that Canada will reduce its emissions to the levels they have committed.” He added that, “given the current geopolitical uncertainties, our co-operation is more crucial than ever.”

The official release from the meeting affirmed Canada’s and the EU’s “commitment to implement the Paris Agreement fully and effectively, to continue to champion ambitious climate action in numerous multilateral fora, and to demonstrate international leadership, including by implementing our domestic responsibilities. They also highlighted the economic opportunity for clean growth resulting from global action on climate change.”

Ahead of the Ottawa visit, New Europe reported that Cañete was also scheduled to meet with “officials responsible for natural resources and innovation, science and economic development, as well as stakeholders in the energy and environment sector,” emphasizing Canada’s status as “one of the EU’s longest-standing partners.”

The day before Cañete arrived in Ottawa, McKenna signaled to newly-installed Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, that Canada “plans to defend” the Paris deal, National Observer reports. “On March 1, McKenna raised the issue with her U.S. counterpart, according to a readout of the conversation released by the Canadian government,” writes correspondent Carl Meyer. The government said McKenna stressed “Canada’s commitment to meet its obligations under the Paris Agreement, address climate change, and to take advantage of the economic opportunity offered by the global market shift toward clean growth.”

“They agreed on the importance of protecting the environment while growing the economy and creating middle-class jobs,” the Canadian embassy in Washington stated, in its own report on the conversation. “The only part of the call that seemed to conflict with Trump’s agenda was when McKenna declared that Canada will be sticking to its commitments under the Paris climate change deal,” the Washington Examiner notes. “Trump has vowed to withdraw from the deal in his first 100 days in office,” although that pledge is currently a matter of fierce debate within his administration.

McKenna told The House she saw a business case for the United States to commit to clean energy. “I emphasized the economic opportunity when it comes to a clean energy economy,” she said. “This is about jobs.”

Cañete’s Ottawa visit also coincided with a Climate Central report that cast doubt on the EU’s vaunted leadership on climate change. “The post-2020 future of the European Union’s cap-and-trade system, which was designed to tax and limit pollution, is about to be negotiated following formal proposals by each of the three institutions that together govern the union,” writes Senior Science Writer John Upton. “At a key moment for the planet, one of the world’s earliest champions of climate action is balking at reforming a dysfunctional carbon market,” instead putting forward “minor changes that would fail to limit greenhouse gas pollution.”

“It’s nowhere near what we need,” said Climate Action Network-Europe policy specialist Anja Kollmuss. “If I speak to European policy-makers I have to tell them, ‘You’re missing the boat. You’re claiming to be a leader on climate change, but you’re not.’”

Upton attributes much of that failing to the technical complexity of the issue and “frenetic industry lobbying” from cement, steel, and fossil interests. The result: Members of European Parliament (MEPs) are “voting on an issue that is highly technical and where they do not really know what it’s about,” Dutch MEP Gerben-Jan Gerbandy told Upton. “They’re very sensitive to lobbying by industrial sectors.”

A month earlier, Cañete claimed in an official report that the continent is “well on track” to meet its 2020 climate and energy targets.

“Europe is forging ahead with the clean energy transition,” he said. “There is no alternative. And the facts speak for themselves: renewable energy is now cost-competitive and sometimes cheaper than fossil fuels, employs over one million people in Europe, attracts more investments than many other sectors, and has reduced our fossil fuels imports bill by €16 billion.”



in Canada, Climate & Society, Ending Emissions, Energy Politics, Jurisdictions, UK & Europe, United States

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

sunrise windmill
International Agencies & Studies

Renewables ‘Set to Soar’ with 440 GW of New Installations in 2023: IEA

June 4, 2023
114
Pixabay
Solar

Greek Industrial Giant Announces 1.4-GW Alberta Solar Farm, Canada’s Biggest

June 4, 2023
105
Oregon Department of Transportation/flickr
Cities & Communities

Shift to Remote Work Cuts Commutes, Frees Downtown Space for Affordable Housing

June 4, 2023
67

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

/MaxPixels

‘Substantial Damage’, No Injuries as Freight Train Hits Wind Turbine Blade

May 25, 2022
14.6k
Natural Resources Canada

2.7M Hectares Lost, Nova Scotia at Ground Zero in ‘Unprecedented’ Early Wildfire Season

June 4, 2023
139
sunrise windmill

Renewables ‘Set to Soar’ with 440 GW of New Installations in 2023: IEA

June 4, 2023
114
Pixabay

Greek Industrial Giant Announces 1.4-GW Alberta Solar Farm, Canada’s Biggest

June 4, 2023
105
Inspiration 4 Photos/flickr

Cooling Upper Atmosphere Has Scientists ‘Very Worried’

May 23, 2023
498
Equinor

Is Equinor’s Bay du Nord ‘Delay’ a Cancellation in Slow Motion?

June 1, 2023
856

Recent Posts

Oregon Department of Transportation/flickr

Shift to Remote Work Cuts Commutes, Frees Downtown Space for Affordable Housing

June 4, 2023
67
Clairewych/Pixabay

Demand Surges for Giant Heat Pumps as Europe Turns to District Heating

June 4, 2023
76
nicolasdebraypointcom/pixabay

Factor Gender into Transportation Planning, IISD Analyst Urges Policy-Makers

June 4, 2023
32
moerschy / Pixabay

Federal Climate Plans Must Embrace Community-Driven Resilience

June 4, 2023
45
debannja/Pixabay

Austin, Texas Council Committee Backs Fossil Non-Proliferation Treaty

June 4, 2023
78
Ottawa Renewable Energy Co-op/Facebook

‘Hinge Moment’ for Humanity Demands ‘YIMBY’ Mentality: McKibben

June 1, 2023
75
Next Post

Science seeks to slice bread's climate impact

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}