The Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA) is pleased the Government of Canada has announced a new and more aggressive target to reduce our nation's greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, as part of the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate organized by US President Joe Biden yesterday (April 22).
"Canada needed to adopt a more aggressive 2030 GHG-emission reduction target," said Robert Hornung, CanREA President and CEO. "We need urgent and accelerated action to address the climate crisis and put us on a path to net-zero GHG emissions by 2050, and today's announcement does that."
"To really celebrate Earth Day, however, Canada's new commitment must deliver absolute GHG emissions reductions," Hornung said.
Canada's new commitment is to reduce GHG emissions by 40-45% from 2005 levels by 2030. As of 2019, Canada's GHG emissions had only fallen 1.1% below 2005 levels.
"The Federal Government has made commitments to a number of important measures in recent months that hold significant promise to reduce GHG emissions," said Hornung. "If Canada is to meet its new 2030 target, these measures must be implemented quickly, to ensure that good intentions are translated into concrete actions."
Canada's path to net-zero GHG emissions will rely on the accelerated deployment of wind energy and solar energy, because these technologies represent Canada's lowest cost sources of non-emitting electricity. Canada must work to fully decarbonize and then expand the electricity grid to support reduced use of fossil fuels in transportation, buildings and industry.
"If Canada is to meet its commitment to net-zero GHG emissions, it will need to fully decarbonize the electricity grid well before 2050. In fact, CanREA believes Canada should match the United States and commit to decarbonizing the electricity grid by 2035," said Hornung, "and we look forward to working with the Federal Government on measures that will enable this to happen."
Quotes
"Canada needed to adopt a more aggressive 2030 GHG-emission reduction target. We need urgent and accelerated action to address the climate crisis and put us on a path to net-zero GHG emissions by 2050, and today's announcement does that. To really celebrate Earth Day, however, Canada's new commitment must deliver absolute GHG emissions reductions."
"The Federal Government has made commitments to a number of important measures in recent months that hold significant promise to reduce GHG emissions. If Canada is to meet its new 2030 target, these measures must be implemented quickly, to ensure that good intentions are translated into concrete actions."
"If Canada is to meet its commitment to net-zero GHG emissions, it will need to fully decarbonize the electricity grid well before 2050. In fact, CanREA believes Canada should match the United States and commit to decarbonizing the electricity grid by 2035, and we look forward to working with the Federal Government on measures that will enable this to happen."
Robert Hornung, CanREA's President and CEO
