OTTAWA — Donald Trump’s re-election in the United States will not impact Canada’s commitment to fighting climate change, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Tuesday.
Guilbeault is in Azerbaijan this week for the annual United Nations climate change conference, which includes discussions about each country’s progress toward lowering their greenhouse gas emissions as committed under the Paris agreement.
Trump withdrew the United States from that agreement during his first term and while President Joe Biden returned the U.S. to the pact in 2021, Trump has promised to withdraw again after he is inaugurated in January.
In a phone call with reporters from Baku, Guilbeault said a Trump administration is familiar territory for the Liberal government.
“It’s not the first U.S. administration where we have different points of view on the issue of climate change,” Guilbeault said.
“That didn’t stop us in the past from starting to implement our ambitious climate plan.”
Guilbeault’s remarks came two days after former Liberal finance minister Bill Morneau told CTV he didn’t think it was the right time for Canada to put caps on greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector.
Last week, the federal government released draft regulations on the emissions cap plan, with Guilbeault stressing such a move wouldn’t result in cutting production. The industry largely rebuffed that notion, saying that emissions caps would deter investment in Canada’s oil and gas sector, leading to job cuts.
Morneau said he felt Canada should be more aligned on climate policy with the Trump administration set to take office. Trump has been bullish on expanding fossil fuel production and pulling back on renewables like wind and solar.
“I respectfully disagree with (former minister) Morneau who, as you know, used to be my colleague,” Guilbeault said.
“The time to fight climate change is now. It’s not tomorrow, it’s not the day after tomorrow. Climate impacts won’t wait.”
Guilbeault also announced the launch of a new financing platform to help direct funds to climate initiatives.
Fundamentally, the platform is designed to make it easier to secure long-term loans for climate projects. A quarter of it is dedicated to developing countries and small island states.
Guilbeault said the government has committed $160 million to the fund, with a goal of raising up to $2 billion through the private sector. Guilbeault said, so far, they’ve secured $800 million in total, but he couldn’t provide details on who’s funding it.