The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on World Environment Day:

“Today, on the 50th anniversary of World Environment Day, I join people in Canada and around the world in recognizing our shared responsibility to protect our planet and fight climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.

“Climate change knows no borders, and in Canada, we are seeing its effects firsthand. From wildfires, to flooding, to extreme storms, to melting glaciers, it is clear that we need to keep taking real action. In recent years, the Government of Canada has taken more action than at any other point in Canada’s history to protect our environment, while growing our economy and creating good middle-class jobs. With measures from our Emissions Reduction Plan, which is already cutting pollution and putting us on track to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, we are working to keep our air clean for generations to come. We are securing generational projects to build clean products like made-in-Canada electric vehicles and generate clean power. We put a price on pollution that also puts more money back in the pockets of families, while fighting climate change. And thanks to initiatives like the Oceans Protection Plan and Indigenous-led conservation projects, we are protecting historic amounts of our lands and waters too. Through our continued efforts, Canada is on track to protect 30 per cent of our lands and 30 per cent of our waters by 2030, while championing this goal internationally.

“The theme of this year’s World Environment Day – ‘Solutions to Plastic Pollution’ – reminds us of the work that remains to be done to end the scourge of plastic pollution and its harmful impacts on the environment, the economy, and health – here in Canada and around the world. Every year, more than 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced worldwide, with single-use plastics accounting for about half of that amount. That is why we banned certain harmful single-use plastics. This will eliminate the equivalent of over one million full garbage bags of plastic pollution over the next decade, and we are also developing measures for plastic products to increase recycling rates and keep our environment clean. As a proud member of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, Canada continues to work with our international partners on the negotiation of a new, ambitious, and legally binding international agreement on plastic pollution, which aims to end plastic pollution altogether. We look forward to bringing the world together for the fourth session of these negotiations in Ottawa in April 2024.

“On this World Environment Day, I encourage all Canadians to join the global movement to #BeatPlasticPollution, so we can build a clean, healthy future for the next 50 years and beyond.”