Skip to main content

Canada sticking with 2050 net zero targets, but progress may come faster than expected, minister says

Share

Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the federal government is not ruling out finding ways to achieve net zero sooner than the existing 2050 goal, but would not say whether there would be a definitive commitment to move up the target.

The government’s current target is to hit net zero emissions — the point at which the amount of greenhouse gas emitted is equal to the amount that is removed from the atmosphere — by 2050, a goal shared by the other G7 countries. But in March, a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change prompted United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to encourage developed countries move up their net-zero timelines to 2040.

While Wilkinson told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, in an interview airing Sunday, that the Canadian government is “always looking to be more ambitious,” he wouldn’t say if or when there would be a definitive answer about aiming to hit net zero a decade sooner than planned.

“At this stage, our target is 2050,” he said. “It is an ambitious target.”

“Let’s be clear, getting to net zero in an economy like Canada's, which is big and cold, is not simple,” the minister added. “Our target is 2050. But we are always, as I say, looking for ways in which to accelerate the progress that we can make.”

When pressed on whether achieving net zero by 2040 is even possible considering the conditions in Canada — namely a resource heavy economy and a cold climate — Wilkinson said it would be a challenge, but not impossible.

“As I say, our target is 2050,” he said. “It's hard for me to comment on that because at this stage, all of our plan is focused on driving emissions. It is an enormously ambitious target for a country like Canada.”

“But I certainly do not rule off the table finding pathways through which we can actually go more quickly,” he also said. “And in some areas we are finding that we can go faster than we thought.”

Wilkinson cited the example of Alberta phasing out coal several years sooner than it had anticipated.

“So in many sectors, I think people are finding that sometimes the pathways are easier than we think they are,” he said.

Wilkinson’s conversation with Kapelos took place as hundreds of wildfires rage across the country, in an unprecedented start to the wildfire season. Climate scientists have said climate change is making extreme weather events more common, and the natural resources minister said more frequent fires is expected to be the “new normal.”

IN DEPTH

Former prime minister Brian Mulroney dies at 84

Former Canadian prime minister and Conservative stalwart Brian Mulroney has died at age 84. Over his impressive career, the passionate and ambitious politician, businessman, husband, father, and grandfather left an unmistakable mark on the country.

Who is supporting, opposing new online harms bill?

Now that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's sweeping online harms legislation is before Parliament, allowing key stakeholders, major platforms, and Canadians with direct personal experience with abuse to dig in and see what's being proposed, reaction is streaming in. CTVNews.ca has rounded up reaction, and here's how Bill C-63 is going over.

Opinion

opinion

opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike

When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.

opinion

opinion Don Martin: ArriveCan debacle may be even worse than we know from auditor's report

It's been 22 years since a former auditor general blasted the Chretien government after it 'broke just about every rule in the book' in handing out private sector contracts in the sponsorship scandal. In his column for CTVNews.ca, Don Martin says the book has been broken anew with everything that went on behind the scenes of the 'dreaded' ArriveCan app.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'

The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.

Stay Connected