Speech

As a founding member of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, Canada understands the importance of reducing short-lived climate pollutants. We believe this practical approach to improving the environment and human health is a key complement to our action on climate change.

Action on these pollutants is particularly important to Canada’s North—a region that is vulnerable to climate change and other environmental impacts.

In fact, it is now widely accepted that short-lived climate pollutants may be partly responsible for the fact that warming is occurring much faster in the Canadian Arctic than in the rest of the world. 

Canada is working closely with its provincial and territorial partners on a number of projects that are expected to reduce emissions from short-lived climate pollutants. For example, in the transportation sector new measures have been introduced to limit black carbon emissions from heavy-duty vehicle engines and off-road diesel engines.

But addressing these pollutants requires global cooperation, as well as strong national action. Canada has demonstrated its commitment to effective global action by being a founding member of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, and one of the first countries to commit financial support.

We are contributing $3 million directly to the trust fund for the Coalition managed by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). These funds will support valuable work that is ready to begin now. Work such as targeting pollution from diesel engines and brick kilns in developing countries and supporting the development of national short lived pollutant action plans by the Coalition’s developing country members.

Canada has also invested $7 million into projects that support the Coalition’s goals. Projects like helping poor families adopt clean cook-stoves in Colombia, Ghana, Mexico and Peru; reducing methane and black carbon pollution in the oil and gas sector in Mexico and Colombia; and redirecting methane emissions from landfills in Mexico, Chile and Colombia to the production of clean energy.

Building on Canada’s support for effective use of landfill gas, Canada has been working closely with the United States and Mexico to develop the Coalition initiative targeting better management of solid waste. Launched here at Rio+20 a couple of days ago, it will partner cities in Coalition countries with organizations such as the Clinton Climate Initiative, the World Bank, and the Global Methane Initiative, which is very exciting. 

Finally, it is my pleasure to inform you that the Government of Canada, in partnership with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the provincial government of British Columbia and the City of Vancouver, will be hosting the Global Methane Initiative Expo in 2013. We look forward to welcoming the world to this important trade show focussed on showcasing clean technologies aimed at reducing emissions of short lived climate pollutants.