Western premiers push back as Guilbeault calls for 'phase-out of unabated fossil fuels'
CBC
Canada's environment minister hopes the next international climate summit will commit to phasing out unabated fossil fuels — oil and gas projects that don't rely on technology to capture their emissions.
Steven Guilbeault outlined his expectations for the next COP28 while meeting with fellow international ministers from Europe, Mexico, India, Japan, China and other countries.
One of those expectations is the eventual elimination of fossil fuel projects that lack a mechanism to prevent carbon emissions from escaping into the atmosphere. Carbon capture, yet to be proven at scale, has been proposed as a way for the oil and gas industry to continue production without changing the planet's climate.
"We can make COP28 the first COP to acknowledge the need to phase out unabated fossil fuels," Guilbeault said in prepared remarks after his annual meeting with international counterparts on climate action in Brussels.
COP, or the Conference of Parties, are annual meetings on climate change hosted by the United Nations. The host of the 28th COP is the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.).
The conference's president echoed Guilbeault's hopes Thursday.
Calling the phasing down of fossil fuels "inevitable," COP28 president-designate Sultan Al Jaber unveiled his country's ambitions for the conference, which will be hosted in Dubai.
"We must be laser-focused on building the energy system of the future, a system free of unabated fossil fuels, including coal," Jaber said in prepared remarks Thursday.
Jaber called for a tripling of renewable energy output, increasing energy efficiency and doubling hydrogen production to 180 tonnes annually by 2030.
Both Canada and the United Arab Emirates are major oil-producing countries.
When the meeting of international ministers concluded, several countries issued their joint statement that seemingly departed from remarks made by Canada and the U.A.E.
Countries that support a climate diplomacy bloc, the High Ambition Coalition, called for "an urgent phase out from fossil fuels."
Ministers from France, Germany, Spain, Ireland and others said this needs to start with a "rapid decline of fossil fuel production and use within this decade."
It goes on to say that technologies such as carbon capture cannot be used to help prolong the life of the oil and gas industry.
Missing baby presumed dead after father charged with killing mother in St. Albert, Alta., police say
A man is facing charges in the death of a young mother in the Edmonton area and the presumed death of their missing nine-month-old daughter.
A school trustee in Prince George, B.C., says she's shaken and scared after being surrounded by police with their guns drawn and then put in handcuffs, in what RCMP say was a case of mistaken identity.
Despite an eleventh hour attempt to secure at least a few more weeks of freedom, a Calgary dentist was handed a three-year prison sentence for a decade-long insurance billing fraud.
Canada Computers & Electronics says a data breach has leaked information about some of its customers, though several say they are unhappy with the scant details the retailer has provided — including how many of them were affected, and when the breach occurred.
The city of Toronto is shutting down a yacht club on the Humber River in Etobicoke that is accused of having negative impacts on the local ecosystem.
Some public safety experts say the N.W.T. government’s failure to regulate the security profession and mandate training for guards is putting people at risk.
U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to slap a 50 per cent tariff on Canadian aircraft and says his administration will "decertify" planes made by Canadian aerospace company Bombardier.
A new non-stop route between Calgary and Abu Dhabi is set to launch later this year, becoming the only direct flight from Western Canada to the United Arab Emirates.
U.S. authorities alerted the RCMP about Ryan Wedding's imminent arrest days before he was taken into U.S. custody in Mexico last week, Commissioner Mike Duheme has told CBC News.
Ontario’s police watchdog says it is not investigating the case of a lawyer who is alleging that multiple Durham Regional Police Service officers slammed her head on a desk without provocation and dragged her to the basement cells of the Oshawa courthouse last week.
Warning: This story deals with suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, you can find resources for help at the bottom of this story.
Shilo Nosyk was camping with friends and family last summer in Alberta's Elbow-Sheep Wildland Provincial Park when her then-15-year-old son's throat started to close.
Daniel Martell, the stepfather of two Nova Scotia children who disappeared nearly nine months ago, has been charged with sexual assault, assault and forcible confinement, CBC News has learned.