Parliamentary Secretary Duguid concludes successful participation in G20 Joint Environment and Climate Ministers Meeting

September 1, 2022 – Bali, Indonesia

Terry Duguid, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, concluded a productive series of meetings at the G20 Joint Environment and Climate Ministers Meeting on August 31. The Parliamentary Secretary reaffirmed Canada’s unwavering commitment to ambitious and sustained action to combat the climate and biodiversity crises through participation in the G20. Multilateral engagement and cooperation continue to be central elements of Canada’s approach to address these crises.

Recognizing the unique geopolitical circumstances in which the G20 took place, the Parliamentary Secretary expressed Canada’s condemnation of President Putin’s illegal, unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine. The impacts of Russia’s war continue to threaten food and energy security across the globe and are causing unnecessary environmental harm and destruction.

The G20 forum offered an important opportunity for dialogue between Canada and its partners to advance cooperation on environmental issues. The tireless contributions of negotiators over the past year reinforced the need to make progress on key issues, including the need for a new, ambitious global biodiversity framework at the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in Montréal later this year. The Parliamentary Secretary underscored the urgency of the biodiversity crisis and the need for rapid implementation of the new framework to halt and reverse the loss of nature by 2030.

While constructive discussions were held on many key issues, the Parliamentary Secretary, like many other G20 members, had hoped to find more common ground on climate action commitments, consistent with the Glasgow Climate Pact agreed to at last year’s COP26. The science is clear that our actions must aim to keep 1.5°C within reach if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. This must serve as the basis for our individual and collective climate action as countries head to COP27 and COP15. Ambitious action in this critical decade must include the mobilization of financial support for developing countries, the transition away from coal-fired electricity, the adoption of carbon pricing policies by more countries, and slashing methane emissions.

The Parliamentary Secretary noted a spirit of collaboration in Bali that will be crucial to successful outcomes at COP27 and COP15 later this year. Canada extends its gratitude towards Indonesia for its leadership and hospitality as president of the G20.

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“As the world faces the devastating impacts of climate change, like the unprecedented flooding in Pakistan, we cannot lose sight of the collective ambition required going into the international biodiversity and climate conferences later this year. As the world’s largest emitters, G20 countries have a responsibility to demonstrate the leadership the world so desperately needs.”
– Terry Duguid, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change