EU and Canada establish a Green Alliance to deepen cooperation on domestic and international policies
EU and Canada establish a Green Alliance
Today, the EU and Canada have established a Green Alliance at a bilateral Summit in St John's, Newfoundland. The Alliance will strengthen political, technical, economic and scientific cooperation between these two like-minded partners. It covers climate action, environmental and ocean protection, the clean energy transition, green industrial transformation, research and innovation and climate and biodiversity finance.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said today: “Canada is a trusted partner for Europe in addressing the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. I'm delighted to have launched the Green Alliance today with Prime Minister Trudeau. This Alliance takes our cooperation to a new level, deepening and expanding our work together. From clean energy to green technologies, it will help us reach our net zero goal.”
Both the EU and Canada share the aim of becoming climate-neutral by 2050, and intend to scale up climate action in this critical decade to 2030. The EU and Canada will work together closely to ensure the successful implementation of the Paris Agreement, to keep global average temperature increase below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The two partners will jointly promote ambitious climate action on the global stage, and cooperate to support developing countries and emerging economies in implementing their climate and environmental policies.
The EU and Canada will strengthen efforts to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the highest emitting sectors. They will work to accelerate the global phase-out of unabated fossil fuels and end the construction of new coal-fired power. They also intend to join efforts on implementing global energy efficiency and renewable energy targets and advance work to reduce methane emissions. They will work to decarbonise the transport sector across all modes of transport, with a focus on road transport, aviation and shipping, and will collaborate on reducing building emissions. Today, the EU is becoming a partner of Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau's Global Carbon Pricing Challenge (GCPC). The Challenge seeks to increase explicit carbon pricing coverage of global emissions to 60% by 2030 and creates a forum for dialogue, coordination and capacity building on emissions trading.
The EU and Canada will work together to build more climate-resilient societies through collaboration on adaptation, climate resilience and disaster risk mitigation and reduction. They will also continue to mobilise and scale up climate finance for these purposes at international level.
The EU and Canada are also cooperating on environmental issues, including the implementation of the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. They will increase cooperation with a focus on halting and reversing biodiversity loss, forest degradation and deforestation, promoting the circular economy and addressing the full life cycle of plastics. They will cooperate on sustainable ocean management and the rapid ratification and effective implementation of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty, and promote dialogue on cooperation on Arctic matters. They will also collaborate on sustainable agriculture practices and on nature-based solutions to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and capture it in soils, forests, wetlands and other ecosystems. They will work together to mobilise and scale up biodiversity finance and investments.
The EU and Canada will also increase regulatory and business cooperation. They will support the industrial transition and the development and deployment of innovative net zero technologies, and continue cooperation on raw materials and the integration of raw materials value chains. They will enhance research and innovation cooperation in the areas of climate change, energy, environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity, agricultural resilience and food security, ocean sustainability and clean aviation, as well as green and smart cities.
Background
A Green Alliance is the most comprehensive form of bilateral engagement established under the European Green Deal, with both parties committing to climate neutrality and to aligning their domestic and international climate policies to pursue this goal. The EU-Canada Green Alliance is only the third agreement of its kind, following the EU-Norway Green Alliance signed in April 2023 and the EU-Japan Green Alliance signed in May 2021.
For More Information
EU-Canada Green Alliance text – available below
Canada-European Union Summit 2023 – Joint Statement
