Liberal Minister of Environment Steven Guilbeault will has flown to the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP28, in Dubai, where he is expected to make a ministerial announcement on Monday.
According to his itinerary, Guilbeault is scheduled to attend various events during the two week conference. Notably, on Monday, he’s slated to speak during the COP28 Global Methane Pledge session.
This comes amid growing international attention on this year’s summit in the oil-rich Middle Eastern emirate.
Just ahead of COP28, Canada forged a “Green Alliance” with the European Union, signifying a commitment to spread carbon pricing schemes globally.
The alliance includes a pledge by Ottawa to triple its renewable energy sources and double energy efficiency by 2030.
The “Green Alliance” emphasizes the role of carbon taxes as “one of the most efficient and cost-effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
Despite Canada’s existing federal carbon tax, recent data shows a trend of increasing carbon emissions year-over-year, with a temporary decline observed during nationwide lockdowns prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Minister Guilbeault’s visit was also preceded by recent statements from climate lawyer Farhana Yamin, a key architect behind the Paris Agreement – to which Canada is a signatory state.
“I glued myself to the Shell headquarters because I realized that at some point, there was no point in me being a lawyer and sticking to laws, it was better to break the law and show how little the law was doing,” said Yamin.
“We are benefiting from 300 years of resilience based on colonialism and based on very deep pockets which resulted from the exploitation or appropriation of other people’s resources and assets… Just trying to deal with climate change without dealing with decolonization, without dealing with reparations, you cannot do repair without reparations.”
Yamin, speaking at a panel held by the Conduit, asserted that breaking the law was necessary to advance climate goals. Drawing connections between far-left ideas of “decolonization” and “reparations” with climate objectives.
