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Hello.
I am pleased to represent Canadians in this historic meeting.
In Canada, there was a town called Lytton.
I say “was” because on June 30, it burned to the ground.
The day before, the temperature had hit 49.6 degrees Celsius, the hottest ever recorded in our country.
Canada is warming, on average, twice as quickly as the rest of the world.
And in our north, it’s three times quicker.
The science is clear: we must do more, and faster.
So that’s the pledge and the call I bring to this historic meeting.
We’ve already laid the groundwork.
In 2015, at the COP in Paris, I committed that Canada would put a price on pollution.
We did that.
And despite stiff opposition, the Supreme Court upheld it and Canadians supported it in our last two elections.
We know pollution pricing is key to getting emissions down while getting innovation up and running.
Our carbon price trajectory is one of the most ambitious ones globally.
And it’s rising to $170 per tonne in 2030.
This is a meaningful price on pollution designed not just to make life cleaner, but also make life more affordable and less expensive for Canadians.
I call on other countries to do the same.
Just as globally we’ve agreed to a minimum corporate tax, we must work together to ensure it is no longer free to pollute anywhere around the world.
That means establishing a shared minimum standard for pricing pollution.
Of course, what’s even better than pricing emissions is ensuring that they don’t happen in the first place.
Which brings me to my next major commitment.
We’ll cap oil and gas sector emissions today and ensure they decrease tomorrow at a pace and scale needed to reach net-zero by 2050.
That’s no small task for a major oil- and gas-producing country.
It’s a big step that’s absolutely necessary.
To do our part globally, we’ve doubled our climate financing, including up to $1 billion for the transition away from coal.
And to help deal with the consequences of climate change, Canada’s making our first contribution to the Adaptation Fund.
We need to find solutions that work for our citizens in their daily lives.
That is why Canada has set a goal of selling only zero-emission cars and establishing a net-zero emissions electricity grid by 2035.
As Alok Sharma said recently: “Paris promised. Glasgow must deliver.”
The threat of climate change knows no borders.
That’s why we need to work together to achieve real results.
In the same way that we’re all working together to end the COVID-19 pandemic, we have to bring that same sense of urgency to bear on the climate crisis and on biodiversity loss.
Over the next two weeks, we must demonstrate how we’ll deliver on the promise of Paris with transparency and accountability.
To the world’s most vulnerable who need us to act, to Indigenous peoples who can show us the way, to young people marching in our streets in cities around the world:
We hear you. It’s true, your leaders need to do better.
That’s why we’re here today.
What happened in Lytton can and has and will happen anywhere.
How many more signs do we need?
This is our time to step up, and step up together.
Thank you.