(Montreal) Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault announced Wednesday that Canada will contribute $450 million to help developing countries combat climate change. He also used his Brussels platform to attack conservatives who have spread “conspiracy theories” about climate.
The announced contribution to the Green Climate Fund is part of the $5.3 billion over five years promised by Ottawa in 2021 in terms of international financing to combat climate change.
The government noted that £450m represents a 50% increase over what Ottawa invested in the Green Climate Fund in 2019.
Canada estimates that the envelope will finance projects and programs that would reduce “a total of 2.5 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions of carbon dioxide equivalent.” According to Ottawa, this will affect “278 million direct beneficiaries and 635 million indirect beneficiaries.”
2009 commitment
In Copenhagen in 2009, developed countries pledged to mobilize $100 billion annually, from 2020, to help developing countries adapt to climate change.
Minister Gilbolt indicated that the promise has not been kept, but that it will be fulfilled over the next few years.
“According to preliminary data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, we will reach that target this year” and “We will exceed that $100 billion over the next few years, which means that on average, from 2020 to 2025, we will reach an average of $100 billion in the year. ”
The minister also pointed out that this huge amount of money is too little to achieve greenhouse gas reduction targets, and therefore the private sector needs to do more and reform financial institutions.
Henry Gonzalez, acting CEO of the Green Climate Fund, thanked Canada for its ambitious contribution, noting that the past week was the hottest globally.
He also noted that global efforts to address the climate crisis are more important than ever, and said he hopes Canada’s assistance will inspire other countries to follow suit.
Guilbeault attacks the conservatives
During the question period that followed the announcement on Wednesday morning, a European journalist asked the Canadian minister if he thought the wildfires raging in the country and the simultaneous flooding in several parts of the world would lead to more people understanding the need to invest in it. Fight and adapt to climate change.
Minister Guilbeault replied that this was not necessarily the case and fired an arrow at some of Canada’s elected Conservatives.
“One might already think that the number and severity of natural disasters in Canada and elsewhere would encourage a larger part of the population to mobilize on the issue of climate change. However, we see that in Canada and elsewhere in the world, a portion of the right is trying to recover the effects of climate change.” By creating all kinds of conspiracy theories.
Several Conservative MPs have accused environmentalists of being the source of the bushfires. […] Obviously, this is completely absurd.”
Liberal MPs have accused Conservative Party leader Pierre Poiliffry of shouting in the House of Representatives on May 11 that the government “ignited” Alberta’s wildfires.
Stephen Gilbolt did not specify if he was referring to this event or the recent comments of Alberta Conservative Premier Daniel Smith.
When asked about the relationship between climate change, wildfires and her government’s climate policies in an interview, she said she was concerned that deliberate criminal acts were behind some of the fires in Alberta.
Canada, China and the European Union will hold the seventh Ministerial Meeting for Climate Action (MoCA7) later this week in Brussels. This meeting will bring together about thirty ministers and other representatives. They are due to discuss their priorities ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2023.
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