G20 meeting in Chennai: Canada expecting strong language on fossil fuel phaseout | World News

Canada, a G20 member hopes to see strong language on fossil fuel phaseout and an ambitious renewable energy goal. But, a lot of these issues are still being negotiated behind closed doors at the G20 meeting in Chennai. Canada’s environment minister Steven Guilbeault said he wants G7’s climate ambitions to be reflected by the G20 also. Excerpts from interview:

What are your expectations from this G20 meeting on climate mitigation?

It’s not a secret that many countries including Canada were somewhat disappointed with the outcomes of COP27 on climate mitigation. We were able to make progress on other issues like Loss and Damage for example which was important but we cannot solve climate change unless we have more ambition when it comes to mitigation. The G7 countries were able to agree on a number of very important elements in regards to climate mitigation and I am hoping and many of my peers are hoping that we can reproduce that outcome here at the G20 meeting.

Could you mention specific goals you wish to see in the Chennai communique?

Phasing out of unabated fossil fuels. We were close to agreeing on that at Sharm El Sheikh (COP27). We agreed on it at G7. We are very grateful to India for putting forth a global goal on renewable energy and energy efficiency which is also something we would strongly support.

You had hosted the biodiversity COP in Montreal last year. Can we see a resolution on the 30 by 30 goal (ensure that at least 30% globally of land areas and of sea areas are conserved) from G20?

I am grateful to India for putting forth a strong language on the global biodiversity framework and the 30 by 30 goal. It’s a language that’s largely agreed on by the G20 so we will be able to make progress on that.

Do you think there will be agreement on the 1.5 degree C goal and peaking emissions globally before 2025?

I was encouraged in the energy minister’s summary agreement from Goa on recognising temperature thresholds. 1.5 degree C was not mentioned but the Paris Agreement goals were mentioned. We may be able to go a bit further here on that in Chennai. Many of us agree on the need to peak by 2025 but obviously this is still a subject that is being discussed.

What are your views on fossil fuel phasedown/out?

We prefer phaseout. It is entirely consistent with our domestic legislation of being carbon neutral by 2050. Anyone who agrees with the carbon neutrality goal should be able to agree with the phaseout of unabated fossil fuels. I am hoping that we can come to an agreement on that in Chennai.

How do you think the trust deficit around climate finance can be addressed? Do you think the donor base should be expanded as has been proposed by many rich countries at COP27?

Firstly it’s important to recognise that according to preliminary analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) we will be able to reach the $100 billion goal this year in 2023. According to that analysis between 2020 and 2025, we will be able to reach the goal of $100 billion per year as per the Copenhagen commitment. We know $100 billion is not enough and we know more work is happening now on multilateral banks and climate finance. And yes, Canada would support language on the fact that we need to expand donor base. There are countries who can contribute more than they are contributing now.