Canada's 2030 Climate Target Far Out of Reach, Warns Environment Canada

Canada's legally binding climate target appears to be out of reach, according to new data from Environment and Climate Change Canada. The department's greenhouse gas emission projections indicate that Canada is on track to reduce its emissions by only 21 percent below 2005 levels by the end of this decade, far short of the government's goal of a 40 to 45 percent reduction.

If additional climate policies are implemented, the report suggests a possible 28 percent reduction. This news follows a warning from the Canadian Climate Institute in September, which estimated that Canada would reduce emissions by 20 to 25 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.

In response to the report, the Canadian Climate Institute stated that the country is well off track and needs immediate policy delivery. The update comes shortly after Prime Minister Mark Carney took office, during which he removed key components of Canada's climate plan, including cuts to the consumer carbon tax, pausing the electric vehicle mandate, and backing additional LNG exports.

As a result, the current report shows a worse outlook than in previous years, when the country was on track to cut emissions by 34 percent under Carney's predecessor, Justin Trudeau. This report also arrives a decade after the signing of the Paris Agreement, which commits nations to limit global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius, with efforts to hold it to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

According to climate scientists, even small increments of warming can lead to severe weather events, such as the recent flooding in Abbotsford, British Columbia, caused by an atmospheric river.