Experts Say Canada Becoming ‘Increasing Isolated’ Ahead Of COP 20

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Several policy experts have found Canada to be “increasingly isolated” after former climate policy laggards, like the U.S. and China, have taken action to tackle climate change. The U.S. and China announced to have signed an agreement this month to significantly cut and cap their greenhouse gas emissions. The experts highlighted that the agreement has beefed up the international pressure on Canada ahead of the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 20), which opens today in Lima, Peru.

CIGI chair in the political economy of climate change at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo, Simon Dalby, stated that “they make [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper look increasingly isolated.” Canadian delegation to COP 20 would be headed by Environment Minister, Leona Aglukkaq. The minister would be joining policymakers from 195 countries to negotiate a legally binding international climate change agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which is due to be signed at the COP 21 meeting in Paris next year.

According to a recent poll, majority of Canadians are worried about the impact of climate change on future generations while more than half support a carbon tax. Mr. Harper and successive environment ministers have often asserted that Canada would move on climate change when there was a commitment from “all major emitters” to curb greenhouse gas emissions. According to Dalby, the new China-U.S. agreement, Canada’s lack of leadership and continued focus on developing the oilsands at the expense of other kinds of energy looks foolish. He said “we’re getting left behind badly in energy development.”