OTTAWA – The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released today delivers a stark warning that Canada and the world must rapidly abandon fossil fuels or face climate catastrophe, the Green Party said today.
“Today’s report from Working Group 3 demonstrates clearly that Canada has failed to grasp what is necessary,” said Green Party interim Leader Amita Kuttner. “If this report does not wake up the Liberal-NDP alliance to the need for far more urgent action, nothing will.”
The IPCC delivered the final segment of its update on science, impacts and required cuts to carbon, a process established in 1988 with Canadian leadership that now represents humanity’s most rigorous, laborious and extensive peer-review process.
At a press conference to release the report, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: “Climate activists are sometimes depicted as dangerous radicals. But the truly dangerous radicals are the countries increasing the production of fossil fuels.”
“That means us,” said Dr. Kuttner. “Within the IPCC deliberations, it was reported that pro-fossil fuel countries, including Canada, tried to water down the language. So we stand accused as ‘dangerous radicals’.”
The federal government’s climate plan announced last week shows that by 2030, Canadian production of oil and gas will have increased by 21 per cent.
“The IPCC repeated even more forcefully its earlier findings that emissions must be reduced dramatically before 2030 in order to hold to 1.5 degrees C or even to stay below 2 degrees C increase in global average temperature,” said Green Party parliamentary leader Elizabeth May (MP, Saanich-Gulf Island).
“Yet its data show that we are on track to cause 3.2 degrees C of warming by 2100 – even if all promises by governments are kept.
“The IPCC urgent report on 1.5 degrees in October 2018 led to an emergency debate in the House. At that time the IPCC called for immediate action to cut carbon dioxide emissions by at least 45 per cent below 2010 levels by 2030,” added Ms. May.
“This report brings the bad news that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions did not fall at all between 2010 and 2019. In fact, globally, they are 12 per cent higher. And it appears that emissions from Canada’s oil and gas sector jumped at least 25 per cent between 2010 and 2019, with oil sands emissions being the fastest growing source of GHGs in Canada – 137 per cent increase between 2005 to 2019.”
Mike Morrice (MP, Kitchener Centre) commented: “In the climate plan released last week, the government dropped the pretense of shooting for a 45 per cent reduction.
“Greens remain committed to dragging this government into the real world to face the climate emergency. There is a pathway to cutting national GHG emissions by 60 per cent against 2005 levels by 2030, if only our leaders have the courage.”
####
For more information:
John Chenery
media@greenparty.ca
1-613-562-4916 ext. 215