Prime Minister Stephen Harper to attend the 15th united nations climate change conference in Copenhagen

December 17, 2009

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper will attend the Leaders’ Session of the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen, Denmark, on December 17-18, 2009. 
 
“This conference is an important milestone in the global fight against climate change,” said Prime Minister Harper.  “Canada has been a constructive negotiator throughout this process.  We continue to seek strong global action for a new post-2012 agreement that is fair and effective and which includes significant commitments by all major economies.”
 
Prime Minister Harper reiterated that Canada will continue to support international action to help the poorest and most vulnerable countries adapt to the impacts of a changing climate. 
 
The Harper Government remains committed to contributing to the global effort by taking action to reduce Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent from 2006 levels by 2020 and 60-70 per cent by 2050.  The alignment of Canada’s targets with those of the Obama Administration is a critical element of Canada’s overall approach due to the close integration of our economies and our geographic proximity.
 
Canada has developed policies and measures that will increase energy efficiency, regulate emissions by industry, promote the development of new technologies and introduce renewable sources into our overall energy mix.
 
COP15 began on December 7 and will conclude with the Leaders’ Session on December 18.


Backgrounder

CANADA’S ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Canada recognizes that climate change is a global challenge requiring a global solution and we will continue to work closely with our international partners to achieve a fair, effective and comprehensive outcome at Copenhagen.
 
The Government of Canada remains committed to contributing to the global effort by taking action to reduce Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent from 2006 levels by 2020 and 60-70 per cent by 2050.
 
Canada’s target is realistic given our climate, geography, growing population and the importance of our energy sector to economic growth across the country.  Our target is also consistent with the target proposed by the Obama Administration.  The alignment of our climate change policies with those of the Obama Administration is a critical element of Canada’s overall approach due to the close integration of our economies and our geographic proximity.
 
Taking Action At Home

To achieve our target, Canada is developing a suite of policies and measures that will:

• regulate emissions
• enhance energy efficiency
• increase the share of renewable energy in the overall energy mix
• promote and accelerate technology development and deployment

Regulating Emissions

The Harper Government is working in collaboration with the provinces and territories to develop a cap and trade system that will ultimately be aligned with the emerging cap and trade program in the United States.
 
We have already released the draft rules for Canada’s Offset System.  This system is designed to complement the proposed cap and trade system to generate emission reductions across the economy.
 
The Harper Government is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from new vehicles.  We have introduced tough new regulations that align with the mandatory national standards of the United States beginning with the 2011 model year.  This will have significant benefits for emissions reductions as transportation accounts for over one-quarter of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
 

Energy Efficiency

Canada has long been committed to increasing energy efficiency.  Building on the success of the ecoENERGY programs, which represent a $3.6-billion investment, Canada has achieved significant improvements in energy conservation and efficiency in every sector of our economy.
 
As part of this, the ecoENERGY Efficiency Initiative is investing more than $675 million to promote smarter energy use in homes, buildings and on the road.  In 2009, the Harper Government allocated an additional $300 million towards the ecoENERGY Retrofit-Homes program, providing financial support to the implementation of energy-saving projects in Canadian homes.
 
Budget 2009 also allocated $1.3 billion over two years to support renovations and energy retrofits for social housing on a 50:50 cost sharing basis with the provinces and territories to improve the energy efficiency of social housing.
 
Amendments to the Energy Efficiency Act have introduced energy efficiency standards for a number of new products and set higher standards for several existing products.


Renewable Energy
 
Canada is already a world leader in the use of renewable energy.  Canada’s electricity supply mix is one of the cleanest and most renewable in the world.  Hydroelectricity, the largest renewable energy source in Canada, accounts for approximately 60 per cent of Canada’s electricity generation, making Canada the world’s second largest producer of hydropower.  Clean energy sources, including nuclear, biomass, wind and solar energies, comprise approximately 73 per cent of Canada’s total electricity supply mix.
 
The Harper Government is committed to improving this performance and has set a target to have 90 per cent of Canada’s electricity needs met by clean, non-emitting energy sources by 2020.  The Government also intends to implement regulations to increase renewable fuel content in gasoline by 2010 and in diesel and heating oil by 2011 or earlier, subject to technical feasibility.
 

Promoting Technology Development and Deployment
 
Since 2008, Canada has spent and committed, at both federal and provincial levels, approximately $11 billion to support clean energy and technology investments.  Since 2005, annual federal investment in energy research, development and demonstration has increased by about 50 per cent.
 
A significant portion of Canada’s economic stimulus spending in 2009 has focussed on developing, demonstrating and deploying clean energy technologies in areas where Canada can make the greatest contribution domestically and internationally.  This includes carbon capture and storage (CCS), electricity grid efficiency, fuel-efficient vehicles, bio-energy and renewable energy such as wind, solar and geothermal.
 
In recent years, Canada’s federal and provincial governments have committed a total of approximately $3 billion in funding for carbon capture and storage (CCS), including:

• The Clean Energy Fund, which will support three to five large-scale CCS demonstration projects in Canada.  One of these projects will be the construction of one of the world’s first fully-integrated CCS projects in Alberta.  This project will be done in partnership with the Province of Alberta.
• Approximately $2 billion towards CCS projects from the Government of Alberta, including the recent funding announcement of $750 million towards Shell Canada’s Energy Quest project in Fort Saskatchewan.
• $240 million from the Government of Canada and $50 million from the Government of Saskatchewan to implement CCS at SaskPower’s Boundary Dam coal-fired power plant – one of the world’s first and largest full-scale CCS demonstrations at a coal-fired plant.
• $151 million toward CCS projects in a range of industrial sectors through the ecoEnergy Technology Initiative.
• $18.7 million from the Government of Canada through Sustainable Development Technology Canada for a range of pre-commercialization CCS projects.

An Active And Constructive International Partner

Recognizing that no one country can act alone to address the climate change challenge, the Government of Canada has been working actively and constructively with its international partners through a range of multilateral and bilateral fora.
 
We have been working collaboratively with other Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change towards a fair, effective and comprehensive outcome at Copenhagen.  Such an outcome will need to have a long-term focus while balancing environmental protection with economic prosperity.  A Copenhagen outcome will also need to engage all major economies and support ambitious action on a global scale.
 
At the G-8 Summit in L’Aquila, Italy, this past summer, Prime Minister Stephen Harper joined other G-8 Leaders in recognizing the broad scientific view that the increase in global average temperature above pre-industrial levels ought not to exceed two degrees Celsius.  To this end, the G-8 leaders agreed to work together towards the goal of achieving a 50 per cent reduction of global emissions by 2050.
 
In September, Jim Prentice, Minister of the Environment, completed a series of meetings across the country with provincial and territorial Premiers and Ministers to exchange views in the lead-up to Copenhagen.  These meetings were constructive and provided an opportunity to explore synergies between federal, provincial and territorial approaches to climate change.  The Government will continue to consult with provincial and territorial governments on international climate change negotiations.  On November 25, Minister Prentice held a face-to-face meeting with all provincial and territorial representatives in the delegation.
 
Canada has also been an active participant in the Major Economies Forum (MEF), an initiative launched in March 2009 by Barack Obama, President of the United States, to bring together the world’s 17 largest emitters to advance key issues under consideration in international climate change negotiations.  At the MEF Summit in July 2009, leaders agreed to launch the Global Partnership, an initiative intended to accelerate progress in the development, deployment and diffusion of transformational, low-carbon technologies.

Canada is a member of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP),  a public-private partnership of seven countries – Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan, South Korea, and the United States – that seeks to accelerate the development, deployment and diffusion of clean energy technologies.  We recently announced that we are investing in 19 new clean technology projects under the APP, representing an investment of $8.4 million over two years for projects in China and India.
 
In addition, Canada and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Climate Change on December 6, 2009.  Our two countries will work together on the long-term global effort to address climate change through mitigation and adaptation.  This MOU will strengthen Canada-China cooperation in areas such as energy conservation and efficiency, renewable energy, CCS, methane recovery and utilization and sustainable land management.

Canada recognizes the importance of developing countries being able to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change.  For that reason, the Government of Canada has made significant contributions to multilateral organizations focussed on adaptation, including:

• $318 million under the Global Environment Facility (GEF) trust fund between 2002 and 2010, of which approximately one third was directed to GEF climate change-related activities.
• $100 million to the World Bank’s Pilot Program for Climate Resilience between 2008 and 2010, making Canada the largest donor of grant funding to date.
• $13.5 million to the Special Climate Change Fund for adaptation and technology..
• $5.5 million for the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research under the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Challenge Program.

At the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Trinidad and Tobago, Canada welcomed the proposal to provide fast-start funding as part of a comprehensive agreement at Copenhagen.  This funding would start in 2010 and build to a total from contributing countries of $10 billion annually by 2012.  Commonwealth Heads also agreed that this funding should be targeted to provide substantial support to adaptation in the most vulnerable countries; to facilitate research, development and deployment of clean technologies; and to take action to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries.     
 
Closer to home, Canada has been working with the United States to align our strategies and work together to develop realistic targets and goals.  Earlier this year, Prime Minister Harper and President Obama established the Clean Energy Dialogue to enhance collaboration on the development of science and technology to reduce greenhouse gases and combat climate change.
 
Canada has also been working closely with the United States towards a single North American standard for greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy for passenger vehicles.
 

Within the region, Canada has been engaging with the United States and Mexico on key climate change and energy issues.  At the North American Leaders’ Summit in August 2009, the leaders of those three countries agreed to collaborate in a number of areas, including carbon capture and storage, gas flaring and energy efficiency.  They also agreed to work towards a 21st century continental smart grid.