The Green Party of Canada welcomes the historic climate deal reached between the United States of America (U.S.) and the People’s Republic of China.
Today, U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping announced their respective country’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gases over the next two decades. President Obama announced his commitment to cut 2005 level of carbon emissions by 26-28% before 2025.
“I am very encouraged about this deal,” said Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada and Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands. “The timing of this announcement has obviously been designed to increase the momentum for climate action in advance of the upcoming Conference of Parties (COP) in Lima, which I will be attending as a Green Party representative.”
Similarly, Premier Jinping announced that China would peak its carbon emissions by 2030 and will also aim to get 20% of its energy from zero-carbon sources by the same year. China and the U.S. are two of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse.
In a joint news conference held today with Premier Jinping, President Obama stated, “As the world’s two largest economies, energy consumers and emitters of greenhouse gases, we have a special responsibility to lead the global effort against climate change.”
Bruce Hyer, Deputy Green Party leader and Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay- Superior North added that he hopes that this announcement between China and the U.S. will renew pressure on Prime Minister Harper to match and exceed this commitment.
“These commitments from the US and China to reduce their emissions are a good first step,” added Hyer. “This announcement clearly means that Stephen Harper can no longer hide behind the excuse that he is waiting for others to act. The international community is clearly moving forward, with or without us – if we do nothing it will be a disgrace.”
Ms. May concluded by saying, “I sincerely hope that the conservative delegation (since Opposition Members of Parliament have been continually excluded) will feel the need and urgency to match and exceed this commitment in order to prevent runaway global warming, where the global average temperature increases to such an extent that it creates irreversible damage.”
“We need real leadership on climate action so we must commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% below 1990 levels by no later than 2050. I sincerely hope that Canada can become a leader to resolve the climate crisis by example.”