Pathways to deep decarbonization in Canada

The Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project (DDPP) is an initiative of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UNSDSN) and Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI). The Canadian project team is one of 16 country teams exploring national deep decarbonization pathways. This group of countries includes about 75 per cent of global greenhouse gases (GHGs), 85 per cent of the total world economy and, for Canada, represents 90 per cent of our export trade.

Phase 1 of the project produced an interim report for the Climate Leaders’ Summit in New York in September, 2014. Canada’s Phase 1 country report was released at that time. The purpose of Phase 2, leading up to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21), is to develop a report to be tabled at COP21 by the French presidency. Today, the DDPP has had a material impact on the UNFCCC negotiations, most notably adding the deep decarbonization language and emission trajectories to mid-century into the UNFCCC negotiating process and the global climate policy discourse, culminating in the G7 announcement in June 2015 to decarbonize by 2100.

The objective of the DDPP is to explore elements of deep decarbonization consistent with limiting global temperatures to +2° C while maintaining global prosperity. Based on a remaining budget of 800 to 1100 gigatonnes, the target is for all countries to hold greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at 1.7 tonnes per capita by 2050. Setting this egalitarian global per capita emissions goal avoids contentious discussions about burden sharing associated with negotiating reduction targets.