Canada’s record on climate change should be judged not only on the targets and commitments that Canada has made over the years, but also on its actions. Despite commitments from government after government to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the past 3 decades, Canada has failed to translate these commitments into real reductions in net emissions. Instead, Canada’s emissions have continued to rise. Meanwhile, the global climate crisis has gotten worse. However, the recent coronavirus disease (COVID‑19) Definition 2 pandemic has shown that Canada does have the capacity to respond to crises. Will Canada finally turn the corner and do its part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
Globally, scientific research has focused on climate change since the late 1980s. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was established in 1988 to assess changes in climate and provide governments with scientific information to guide climate policies. Through this panel, scientists and other experts from around the world, including Canada, synthesize the most recent developments in climate science, adaptation, vulnerability, and mitigation. Over decades, the panel’s key findings have more definitively outlined the types and severity of change in our climate—and attributed much of it to human activity.
In June 1992, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, hosted the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. This conference launched the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Signatories, including Canada, agreed to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous interference with the climate. Canada has been party to all major international climate change agreements since then (Exhibit 5.2).