Emissions targets should not be legally binding

The idea behind the Green Climate Fund is to overcome a major sticking point in the UN climate treaty process, which is that developing nations are being asked to invest in renewable energy technology and take measures to reduce the impacts of climate change, but do not have almost the money needed to do so.

Mulcair says the Liberal government should be going into the summit with something more ambitious than climate change targets put forward by former prime minister Stephen Harper.

“Whether we like it or not, the rest of the global economy sees Canada as a commodity-centric economy”, Calgary-based FirstEnergy Capital argued in a report published on Thursday. “The truth of the matter is that most of the things that are going to make a real difference in greenhouse gas emissions will actually end up being implemented by cities”.

Then-premier Ed Stelmach chose not to attend the conference and later said he had made the right decision because it would have meant Alberta “was a larger target”.

Alberta’s climate change plan, released last weekend, was hailed by the federal government and the premiers of Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.

“There are political realities in the United States… they can not have legally binding targets”.

“I think that free trade and free markets are the best way to drive jobs, opportunities and investment in an increasingly dynamic global economy”.

Mr. Dion noted that that sum is supposed to be Canada’s contribution from both public and private sources, and that the $800-million Canada will contribute in 2020 will attract private “partners” and generate a total of $4-billion. Beijing will also curb its emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 60-65 per cent by 2030 from 2005 levels, a far cry from the country’s current position as the world’s number one carbon polluter. “Canada was black-labelled”.

“Ten years after, I feel that the countries feel the effect of climate change”, he said.

But Canada is lagging behind global heavyweights such as Brazil, India, China, and the US, all of whom have announced concrete climate targets specific to COP-21, even as PM Trudeau’s more constructive approach is being hailed by many.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet listen during a ABAC dialogue at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Manila, Philippines Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015.

He said he did not want the refugees to be “a cause for anxiety or division”.

Trudeau says quote, “We have a responsibility, to ourselves and to the world, to show that inclusive diversity is a strength and a force that can vanquish intolerance, radicalism and hate”.

She said she wouldn’t speculate on what Alberta’s reception will be like.