Feds still committed to Paris Accord, Trump or no Trump: McKenna
As the U.S. flirts with fleeing the Paris climate-change accord, Canada is aligning itself with the world’s other two largest economies to take a global leadership role on the effort to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna would only say Wednesday that Canada remains committed to the Paris Accord, refusing to speculate about U.S. President Donald Trump’s musings about withdrawing from the agreement.
“Canada’s just going to keep marching on, like the rest of the world,” McKenna told an event in Toronto.
Trump has said climate change is a “hoax” and campaigned on a promise to withdraw from the Paris agreement. He has apparently been pondering what to do about that promise since the November election.
On Wednesday, a White
House official said Trump is indeed expected to withdraw the U.S. from the accord, but may use “caveats in the language” when the time comes — leaving open the possibility that the decision isn’t final.
“I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord
over the next few days,” Trump tweeted Wednesday amid media reports that a withdrawal was looming.
McKenna has said what the U.S. chooses to do is up to the U.S., but Canada won’t wait.
Last week in Germany, McKenna met with Chinese special envoy for climate change Xie Zhenhua and European Union environment commissioner Karmenu Vella, where they discussed jointly hosting a meeting of environment ministers this fall to chart a path for implementing Paris among the world’s major economies.
It very likely will take place in Canada, around the same time as the United Nations General Assembly, which starts in New York City on Sept. 12.
Currently the U.S. is not part of that group.
“Canada is going to show leadership with China and the EU and we certainly hope the U.S. will be joining us,” McKenna told The Canadian Press in a recent interview.
China is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, responsible for almost 30 per cent of global emissions in 2016, and recently recommitted to its Paris targets. The U.S. is the second-largest emitter, contributing about 15 per cent, followed by the EU, responsible for about 10 per cent.