Canada reaffirms support for High Ambition Coalition with COP26 Leaders’ Statement

Climate change can no longer be considered a future threat. It is upon us. From droughts and wildfires to shoreline erosion and floods, Canadians are already feeling the effects. The increasingly harsh impacts of climate change are borderless and disproportionately affect the world’s most vulnerable countries.

Today, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, reaffirmed the Government of Canada’s support for the High Ambition Coalition and more ambitious actions on climate outlined in the COP26 Leaders’ Statement. The High Ambition Coalition aims to ensure that the 1.5°C goal remains the top priority for climate action globally and that support for adaptation continues to increase.

In 2015, Canada helped to spur global ambition and strengthen resolve by pushing for the 1.5°C objective into the Paris Agreement, which has guided our climate policy ever since, and when Canada first joined the High Ambition Coalition.

The 1.5°C limit matters for Canada, which is warming at twice the global average. The 1.5°C limit is even more essential for developing countries, which often lack adequate resources to fight climate change and adapt to its impacts.

Through this new Declaration, Canada—alongside other global leaders at Glasgow, including New Zealand, the United States of America, Independent State of Samoa, Italy, Micronesia, Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Rwanda, Seychelles, and the Republic of Angola—is pushing for increased climate action, including through enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs); phasing out unabated coal-fired electricity; reducing global methane emissions by at least 30 percent from 2020 levels; enhancing adaptation support for developing countries; and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. The goal is to translate ambitious pledges into concrete actions, a priority for the Conference of the Parties (COP26), and for Canadians across the country.