Canada

Context of the action

Canada aims to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030, an improvement on its previous (pre-2021) target of 30%, which included land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF).

SPIPA action

SPIPA’s role in Canada was to work towards strengthening an already very positive collaboration between the EU and Canada, and to ensure that both partners work together on various climate issues on bilateral and multilateral levels.

In addition to many initiatives undertaken by the EU and Canada on a multilateral level, they have linked their bilateral trade agreement to the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The major reference point for this was the adoption of the EU-Canada Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) and the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

Through SPA, Canada and the EU maintain a high-level dialogue on climate change with a view to sharing best practices and promoting effective and inclusive cooperation.

CETA, on the other hand, created an opportunity to boost economic ties between Canada and the EU, and to deepen existing links in trade of climate-friendly goods and services. SPIPA supported a CETA-framed conference that allowed the discussion of areas of mutual supportiveness between trade and climate action.

The direct follow-up to the recommendations made at the conference were either taken up by the responsible CETA bodies (e.g., the Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development) or by trade-related foreign policy instrument projects run by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (DG GROW) in partnership with the EU Delegation in Ottawa.

In the second line of action, the EU and Canada have identified the building sector as an area that requires rapid decarbonisation. However, on both sides of the Atlantic, progress is very slow due to the complexity of the tasks and the many actors involved. SPIPA supported a conference on this issue in early 2020, followed by a webinar series on energy efficiency in the building sector. The dialogues enabled exchanges between policymakers, regulatory authorities, investors and many others. Good practices from both sides of the Atlantic inspired action and deepened expert networks.

Canada was also a part of the SPIPA multi-country activity on adaptation - Stepping up Knowledge Exchange for Climate Adaptation Platforms (KE4CAP) project.

Additionally, SPIPA facilitated dialogues on the regulatory framework and the evolving supply chain for renewable hydrogen and its derivatives. Both regions are equally ambitious in the use of hydrogen in their net-zero strategies.