Canada still voice for change at UN climate summit in Turkey, despite fossil fuel expansion at home | CBC

Canada’s role under scrutiny

COP31 runs from Nov. 9 to 20 in Antalya, Turkey. It is the first UN climate summit since the United States, under President Donald Trump, withdrew from the Paris Agreement, after largely boycotting COP30. Canada is sending a diplomatic contingent led by Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin, as well as a Canada Pavilion for events with government, think tanks and non-governmental organizations. Pratishta Singh of Climate Action Network Canada said, “Canada’s credibility is on the line.”

Domestic policies complicate diplomacy

Canada is continuing its participation in the UN process despite recent climate-policy rollbacks. Philip Gass of the International Institute for Sustainable Development expects criticism from groups over those changes, describing the summit’s reception for Canada as potentially “up and down.” Canada’s ongoing expansion of fossil fuel production complicates its position, Gass said, particularly because the country has a large oil and gas sector. He also said that does not prevent Canada from taking a constructive part in discussions.

Clean energy and climate finance

Canada can point to investments in clean electricity, including a major push for nuclear energy, as evidence of its climate ambitions. Environmental Defence’s Julia Levin called the funding announcements “positive, but underwhelming.” COP31’s presidency wants countries to pursue a higher electrification target: electricity would meet 35 per cent of global final energy demand by 2035, up from just over 20 per cent today. Canada announced about $5.9 billion in climate finance over five years, aiming to mobilize $13 billion in total with private sources; Singh said details on how the money will flow still need to be released.

Negotiations and worker transition

Reaching agreement among more than 180 countries has proved difficult because UN climate decisions require consensus. Canada was among a smaller coalition that met in Colombia in April to discuss moving forward separately.

Canada’s sustainable jobs strategy recognizes that emissions reductions will reshape industries and says the transition should improve job quality and support growth. The strategy drew criticism from the NDP and labour experts, who said it did not do enough for workers.