Partnership between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of Canada for the climate and the environment – 2024-2027

The Government of the French Republic (“France”) and the Government of Canada (“Canada”) share a common goal of preserving the planet and ensuring a prosperous future for current and future generations. Together, they recognize the environmental emergency and combat the climate crisis and the collapse of biodiversity by intensifying their cooperation for a sustainable world.

France and Canada stand firmly by the commitments made in the Paris Agreement and reaffirm their support for the goal of limiting the rise in global temperatures to well below 2°C, while pursuing all possible efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. They welcome the decision reached at COP28 by the entire international community on the transition of energy systems away from fossil fuels, and they will endeavor to carry it out effectively and as quickly as possible. They will encourage their partners to carry out these commitments and adopt climate-neutral targets for 2050, notably within the G20, with the support of the G7, and by raising the ambition of our next Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by February 2025.

Deeply concerned by the alarming rate at which biological diversity is disappearing, France and Canada reaffirm their determination to fully carry out the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in December 2022 in Montreal at the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

France and Canada will focus their cooperation on the following areas:

1) Promoting gender and sustainable development issues in an integrated approach

Reiterating their willingness to promote to sustainable and resilient development, France and Canada affirm their commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment, including as major players in the fight against climate change and declining biodiversity. Cognizant that women and girls are key players in the ecological transition and that they remain particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, France and Canada will intensify their efforts to continue integrating gender equality into their environmental actions. In international fora, France and Canada will continue to advocate for gender equality through the systematic integration of a gender-based perspective, the implementation of gender-inclusive decisions, and by encouraging the full, equitable and informed participation of women at all levels of action and decision-making relating to the environment and climate.

France and Canada will encourage the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services to continue their efforts to integrate gender considerations across the board in their reports, in order to improve Members’ understanding of how gender equality can improve biodiversity and climate action, notably through the production and use of gender-specific data.

France and Canada will continue their collaboration on the Equal by 30 Campaign, which aims to advance gender equality in clean energy, by implementing the new, strengthened commitments adopted by G7 members in May 2021 and reporting on their progress in a transparent and open manner, as they did in 2022 by contributing to the report drawn up under the German G7 presidency, and by using and disseminating the Equal by 30 self-assessment tool, to evaluate progress in implementing inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility practices heading towards 2030.

To complement and build on their respective ministerial participation in the International Energy Agency’s Global Commission on People-Centered Clean Energy Transitions, France and Canada can explore opportunities to collaborate through bodies such as the Clean Energy Ministerial and the International Renewable Energy Agency to deepen analysis, research and policy recommendations on the clean energy transition’s socio-economic elements.

Inspired by the success of the workshops for female climate negotiators in collaboration with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity, and the International Organization of the Francophonie, France and Canada could explore the possibility of organizing a workshop for female biodiversity negotiators, ahead of CBD COP16, in order to implement the CBD Gender Action Plan adopted at COP15.

To help vulnerable populations in least-developed countries and Small Island Developing States faced with the extreme effects of climate change, France and Canada will continue their work on early warnings. They support the CREWS (Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems) initiative and are thus actively participating in the Early Warnings for All initiative, which aims to achieve universal coverage by early warning systems by 2027. In this context, France and Canada will be able to benefit from their shared commitment and continue to work together to reduce loss and damage, and collaborate with other donors to ensure that international efforts are effective, coordinated and coherent.

2) Implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

Deeply concerned by the alarming rate at which biological diversity is disappearing, France and Canada reaffirm their commitment to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. They reiterate our goal of halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030. In this regard, France and Canada will continue to invest in the implementation of COP15 decisions relating to the monitoring framework, the planning, review and reporting mechanism, resource mobilization, capacity building and cooperation, and sharing of the benefits from the digital sequencing of genetic information.

France and Canada will continue to work together to ensure that the targets of the Global Framework are met, the list of indicators finalized, and the modalities of the implementation mechanism defined. To this end, France and Canada will actively contribute to the second phase of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, which aims to support its members in implementing the nature conservation target of 30 percent of the world’s natural areas by 2030 ("30 by 30") through the identification and linking of funding, technical assistance and capacity building. France and Canada may identify, with their national operators, the technical expertise on protected areas that they wish to make available to members via the Coalition’s platform. At the same time, following Canada’s announcement of creating the Nature Champions Network to maintain momentum on the global framework’s implementation, France will serve as a "champion" on the 30 by 30 theme, highlighting the interest in following initiatives on conservation and restoration.

In particular, France and Canada will continue to exchange on best practices, with subnational governments and local authorities, to ensure better representation and participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in commitments, public policies, the sharing of expertise and knowledge, and informed, science-based decision-making related to biodiversity. The full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in the good governance and effective management of protected areas remains a priority for France-Canada cooperation.

Following ratification of the new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, the 66th Council meeting of the Global Environment Facility in February 2024 made the fund operational. France and Canada will work to ensure that the first projects get underway in 2024. France and Canada will work to increase international funding for biodiversity from all sources, in particular from the multilateral development banks in which they are shareholders.

Convinced of the need to support developing countries in achieving the targets of the Kunming-Montreal global biodiversity framework, France and Canada recognize the need for the funding commitments made in Montreal to be effective, including through the mobilization of all sources of funding (national, international, public and private) to achieve the global framework’s 2030 objectives (30 billion US dollars  from international finance and 200 billion US dollars from all sources); the objective of eliminating or reforming subsidies harmful to biodiversity to the tune of 500 billion US dollars per year by 2030; and, the implementation in 2023 of a dedicated fund within the Global Environment Facility.

3) Increase funding for climate and biodiversity policies 

France and Canada will continue to mobilize climate financing to encourage the transition to clean energy and the phasing out of all unabated fossil fuels, starting with coal, nature- and biodiversity-based solutions, climate-resilient agriculture and food systems, and climate governance. France and Canada will continue to work with their national and international partners to combat climate change, while ensuring sustainable, resilient and inclusive economic development worldwide. France and Canada played a key role in contributing to the achievement of the 100 billion US dollars climate finance goal. They are committed to reaching a decision on a New Collective Quantified Goal at COP29 and call for a multilayered goal, with public finance at the core, which seeks to mobilize finance from all available sources. They encourage an expansion of the contributor base and call on other major economies to provide financing in support of needs in developing countries.

France and Canada will work together to secure ambitious commitments from the multilateral development banks, and to align their operations with the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Framework for Biodiversity. They reaffirm the importance of the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility in combating climate change and implementing the objectives of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. In particular, they will support efforts to improve the Funds’ governance and engagement capabilities.

France and Canada reaffirm the importance for multilateral development banks to effectively implement their COP15 commitments, presenting as soon as COP16 a new methodology for accounting for their biodiversity funding, or to increase their funding for nature protection. At the same time, France and Canada will ensure that multilateral development banks and financial institutions are mobilized to implement Global Biodiversity Framework Fund projects.

France and Canada will encourage the mobilization of innovative means to eradicate poverty and preserve the planet, and to better protect vulnerable countries from crises resulting from climate change and conflict, including through innovative tools such as debt suspension clauses in the event of natural disasters. In this sense, they welcome the Paris Pact for People and the Planet (4P) adopted in June 2023 and will continue their cooperation on certain of its areas of work.

In line with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework target 15, France and Canada will continue to promote the results of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures. France and Canada will encourage the adoption of these results in international bodies, in particular the International Sustainability Standards Board of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation.

France and Canada recognize that the rules of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement need to be operational in order to contribute to the achievement of nationally determined contributions and the long-term objectives of the Agreement. In this context, France and Canada will continue to work together to broaden the ambitions and use of carbon markets, while supporting countries wishing to implement these instruments.

France and Canada will continue their collaboration within the European Commission’s International Platform on Sustainable Finance and the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action.

4 ) Conserving and sustainably managing seas, oceans and water resources

France and Canada will support initiatives that protect the ocean, a crucial carbon sink and home to biodiversity hotspots. The strengthening of multilateral ocean governance to ensure effective protection and conservation of marine biodiversity and the development of sustainable economic activities will be an important priority for France and Canada.

France and Canada recognize the urgency of protecting seas and oceans from the threat of climate change and acidification. France and Canada will support ambitious positions in forums dedicated to environmental protection, in particular at the third UN Ocean Conference to be held in Nice in 2025. France and Canada welcome the adoption of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty) and will take steps towards its entry into force as soon as possible. France and Canada will support the Global Environment Facility, which has earmarked up to 34 million dollars by mid-2026 to finance activities in support of the Agreement’s ratification.

France and Canada will continue to adopt a precautionary approach to ensure that the exploration and exploitation of marine resources conforms to rigorous environmental, social and governance principles, supporting our efforts to combat climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Within the International Seabed Authority, France and Canada will support the application of the principle of due diligence, as well as the precautionary and ecosystem approaches, when developing effective measures to protect the marine environment. This approach will be underpinned by transparent scientific management and a robust inspection mechanism applicable to the seabed mining decision-making process. To ensure that all decisions relating to the protection of marine ecosystems and the environment are based on scientific data, France and Canada will collaborate to further develop their knowledge of the seabed environment.

In the same vein, France and Canada will work together to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing within the framework of the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, and regional fisheries management organizations, and in accordance with the objectives discussed and adopted within the IUU Fishing Action Alliance and the voluntary instruments of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

France and Canada will continue their cooperation within the framework of initiatives of which they are members, such as the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, and the All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance. The joint committee on science, technology and research launched by France and Canada will strengthen our scientific and technological cooperation on a wide variety of subjects, including ocean sciences.

France and Canada will continue to cooperate to ensure sustainable management of transboundary and straddling fish stocks, and to increase this cooperation when new challenges arise. France and Canada will also strengthen their collaboration to advance the preservation of marine environments in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. France and Canada will continue to work together to reduce underwater noise emissions, notably through the work of the Environment Group of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

France and Canada will exchange on water-related issues, and the sustainable and integrated management of this resource on a global scale, in order to continue the momentum initiated at the United Nations Water Conference in March 2023 to improve global governance. Notably, France and Canada will work to strengthen the integration of water issues into multilateral processes and efforts relating to climate change, biodiversity and pollution, including the G7, G20 and other fora.

5 ) Conserving and sustainably managing forests and soils

France and Canada will work together to implement the Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use, primarily under the Forest and Climate Leaders Partnership. France and Canada will co-lead with Kenya the Greening Construction with Sustainable Wood initiative to increase the global use of sustainably sourced wood in construction. France and Canada will also work together to provide technical and financial support through country partnerships to protect vital carbon and biodiversity reserves.

As signatories to the Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use and members of the Forest, Agriculture, and Commodity Trade Dialogue, France and Canada will continue to facilitate trade and development policies at international and national levels that promote sustainable development, including sustainable commodity production and consumption, and limit deforestation and land degradation.

France and Canada are aware of the growing global threat posed by forest fires, and will endeavour to continue conversations on this subject, including through a formal framework for bilateral cooperation.

To preserve the health of the world’s soils, France and Canada will promote the above-mentioned good practices in all relevant multilateral forums, in particular agroecological and innovative approaches such as living laboratories, nature-based solutions and sustainable, integrated water resource management.

In the run-up to the sixteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, and as members of the G20 Global Initiative on Reducing Land Degradation and Enhancing Conservation of Terrestrial Habitats, France and Canada will continue to collaborate on the issues related to combating land degradation and drought.

6) Accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels

France and Canada will work together to implement the COP28 global stocktake decision to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems. They will discuss the practical modalities for achieving this goal and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest, in line with the trajectories needed to limit the global average temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. They will encourage other countries to contribute to this global effort.

Coal is the energy source with the highest greenhouse gas emissions. France and Canada reaffirm their support for the Powering Past Coal Alliance and the Coal Transition Accelerator, the latter announced at COP28, and are committed to decarbonizing their electricity production. France and Canada will work to accelerate the exit from coal not only through government action, but also through non-governmental organizations and the private financial sector, by encouraging financial institutions to publish coal transition plans aligned with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, and by following-up on these commitments. France and Canada will encourage others to meet these commitments by 2030 at the latest for member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and by 2040 for other countries. In line with their G7 commitments, France and Canada recall that they ended new direct public support for unabated international coal-fired power generation in 2021 and reaffirm their determination to end the construction of new unabated coal-fired power plants. France and Canada call on other countries, with whom they will collaborate, to put an end to new non-mitigation coal-fired power plant projects as soon as possible.

More broadly, France and Canada recall their G7 engagement, to accelerate the phase-out of unabated fossil fuels so as to achieve net zero in energy systems by 2050 at the latest, and to achieve a fully or predominantly decarbonized power sector by 2035. France and Canada adopt guidelines to implement G7 commitment with regard to ending public support for the international unabated fossil fuel sector, France and Canada can emphasize the adoption of guidelines derived from this target.

France and Canada will share their experience in public policy, coal divestment and a fair and inclusive energy transition. France and Canada will make diplomatic representations to OECD member countries that still finance coal, as well as to developing and emerging countries, to encourage them to accelerate their energy transition, notably through the implementation of Just Energy Transition Partnerships and cooperation to achieve Sustainable Development Goal number 7 on access to clean and affordable energy.

France and Canada will encourage greater ambition on the part of development institutions and the private sector to accelerate the exclusion of coal from their activities. France and Canada will promote the health, economic and financial benefits of redirecting financial flows from coal and fossil fuels to energy sources with low greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to the elimination of thermal coal, France and Canada will take joint action through the relevant multilateral bodies (including the G7, G20, and OECD) and share their experience to eliminate new direct public support for the international unabated fossil fuel energy sector, and to phase out and rationalize inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, in line with their COP26 and G20 commitments.

France and Canada recognize the need for action to reduce short-lived climate pollutants emissions to limit global warming to 1.5°C. France and Canada reaffirm their commitment to act within existing initiatives, such as the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol), including the replenishment of the Multilateral Fund and the Kigali Amendment,the Climate and Clean AirCoalition, and the Global Methane Pledge, to reduce emissions of all short-lived climate pollutants, including hydrofluorocarbons, tropospheric ozone, black carbon and  methane.  

Methane is responsible for around 30 percent of the global warming to date, and for half a million premature deaths worldwide each year. France and Canada will continue promoting measures to achieve a 30 percent reduction in global methane emissions by 2030, notably within the Climate and Clean AirCoalition and the Global Methane Pledge. Canada has also joined the GMPChampions Group to advocate for accelerated global action to reduce methane emissions and has published its regulations to reduce methane emissions in the oil and gas sector. At the same time, the European Union will continue to work on methane emissions from the energy sector.

France and Canada recognize that air pollution is the main environmental risk factor for human health, and that it can have negative effects on ecosystems. They are both members of the Climate and Clean AirCoalition, which takes action on short-lived climate pollutants (hydrofluorocarbons, tropospheric ozone, black carbon and methane). France and Canada recognize that air pollution does not stop at national borders and have ratified the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution and the Gothenburg Protocol. They will therefore act together to promote the fight against air pollution, notably by cooperating regionally and within the G7.

7) Decarbonizing our economies

In line with the COP28 Global Stocktake decision to triple the ’global renewable energy capacity, double the global’ average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements, and accelerate the deployment of zero-emission technologies and the reduction of road transportation emissions, France and Canada share the will to sustainably develop their national economies through public investment in the transportation and clean energy sectors, and will encourage industrial and research cooperation, as well as mutual investment, particularly in the decarbonization of transportation, with a focus on electrification and battery production, building mass transit and rail transport, and the development of renewable and low-carbon energies, including nuclear and hydrogen. A partnership will be developed between the French and Canadian governments to strengthen cooperation on topics concerning the decarbonization of aviation, supply chains, rail transport and the decarbonization of the maritime sector.

From 2024 onwards, France and Canada will therefore advocate for the highest possible ambition in light of different national circumstances for the next round of nationally determined contributions, in order to achieve the Paris Agreement's objective of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C, in the run-up to COP30 in Belem.

France and Canada have announced a France-Canada bilateral dialogue on critical minerals to strengthen cooperation in securing Canadian and French investments in critical minerals and promoting global environmental, social and governance standards.

At COP27, France moved up its ban on sales of internal combustion engine vehicles by five years to 2035, in line with the regulation adopted by the European Union. In Canada, this commitment is also part of the development of a proposed regulation to ensure that 100 percent of all new light-duty vehicles sold by 2035 will be zero-emission vehicles.

France and Canada will jointly advocate for, within the relevant international fora (including the International Energy Agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Clean Energy Ministerial), the positive contribution of nuclear energy to the production of low-carbon electricity as a complement to renewable energies, and to the reliable and economically competitive supply of this energy contributing to energy security. France and Canada will also continue to strongly support institutional collaboration in research and development and nuclear safety, as well as relevant industrial cooperation.

France and Canada will establish a partnership on low-carbon hydrogen and fuel cells to support the deployment of sustainable mobility and the decarbonization of industry, and may organize seminars to this effect, with the participation of French and Canadian institutional actors, researchers, experts and businesses. These events will allow them to discuss specific technical issues such as low-carbon hydrogen production and on-site use, and the production of synthetic fuel from low-carbon hydrogen for aviation and commercial fleets. Trade missions, such as those organized as part of international events in France and Canada, will also provide opportunities to support and strengthen collaboration between French and Canadian economic actors in these sectors.

The world building inventory ‘is expected to double in area by 2060. France and Canada recognize the importance of transitioning to a zero-emission, energy-efficient global real property and building sector that is resilient to climate change by 2050 in order to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement. France and Canada will expand their exchange of best practices on sustainable building practices and energy efficiency in buildings, and to work together to secure the commitment of other countries to national strategies for decarbonizing the real estate sector (including strengthening the adaptation of real estate to climate change), particularly through the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (Global ABC), the Buildings Breakthroughinitiative, and the International Energy Agency’s Energy Efficiency Hub , following on the International Partnership forEnergy Efficiency Cooperation and the implementation of the Declaration de Chaillot, which was endorsed by France and Canada at the Buildings and Climate Global Forum in Paris.

8) Fight pollution in all its forms

France and Canada are deeply concerned with plastic waste, including microplastics in marine and aquatic environments, constituting an existential threat to ecosystems as a whole, with harmful consequences for human health, economies, the social equilibrium and marine species.

As signatories of the Ocean Plastics Charter, under the 2018 G7 Canadian presidency, France and Canada reiterate their commitment to a more efficient approach to the use of resources and the life cycle of plastics on land and at sea. France and Canada will continue to promote the Charter by encouraging all G7 and non-G7 countries to adopt it.

France and Canada will support the conclusion of a legally binding international agreement to combat plastic pollution. This instrument, due to be finalized by the end of 2024, will have to incorporate an approach based on the entire life cycle of plastics, including limiting and reducing the production and consumption of primary plastics.

As hosts of intergovernmental negotiating committees, France and Canada have strong ambitions, particularly as members of the High Ambition Coalition to EndPlastic Pollution and the Host Country Alliance (Uruguay/INC-1, France/INC-2, Kenya/INC-3, Canada/INC-4 and South Korea/INC-5) created in March 2024 to reaffirm the imperative of signing an ambitious treaty by the end of 2024.

More broadly, France and Canada will promote the development of new circular economy models through engaging international bodies on circular economy such as the G7, which also committed in 2023 to eliminate plastic pollution by 2040, the G20, and the United Nations Environment Assembly.

9) Pricing carbon pollution

France and Canada recognize the crucial role of carbon pricing in effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions. France and Canada will continue to exchange on their respective carbon pricing experiences. This bilateral discussion may include feedback on carbon pricing at different levels of government, ways to improve this instrument’s public acceptability, and tools to be implemented to prevent the risk of carbon leakage, including the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.

France and Canada will jointly promote the Global Carbon PricingChallenge and encourage other countries to adopt carbon pricing as a central element of their climate strategies, with a view to achieving a collective target of covering 60 percent of global emissions by 2030.

This Partnership is not legally binding. It is without prejudice to the powers of the European Union.