Unceded Anishinaabe Algonquin Territories [OTTAWA], 21 September 2026:
In response to the European Union’s call for Canada to become its first associate member, Caroline Brouillette, Executive Director of Climate Action Network Canada, issued the following statement:
“In the face of a trade war, a new alliance between Canada and the European Union is an opportunity. To be coherent with the ambition highlighted by the two leaders during the past two days and as the world adopts electric and renewable technologies en masse, markets and jobs for those technologies should be prioritized.“Indeed, for this alliance to be truly “for the future,” trade diversification must be synonymous with diversification away from volatile fuels, including Canadian liquified natural gas (LNG). Locking in Canadian fossil exports and infrastructure will only further erode our resilience.
“Staying true to the EU and Canada’s “common values” and joint pursuit of a “just society” requires the two jurisdictions to cooperate to confront the climate crisis with full force. Prime Minister Carney can look up to President Von der Leyen’s leadership in clearly naming Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels as a strategic vulnerability.
“The EU and Canada must go further than looking inside their borders and turn the middle power rhetoric into action. Having both hugely benefited from the previous multilateral status quo, they now need to work together to make global institutions and arrangements work and deliver for everyone.”
On a future Canada-EU deepened cooperation, Chiara Martinelli, Director of Climate Action Network Europe, commented:
“Europe and Canada have a shared interest in tackling the climate crisis, given the increasingly destabilising impacts from it. Yet, alarmingly, there was no mention of tackling this global crisis within Prime Minister Carney’s speech.
“Cooperation on climate resilience and mitigation, a just transition for workers and communities, climate multilateralism and support for countries in the Global South must be integral to any new partnership or alliance between the EU and Canada, and other ‘middle powers’.
“With her State of the Union speech last week the European Commission President identified Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels as a strategic vulnerability, with the second fossil fuel crisis in four years adding 90 billion euros to Europe’s energy bill. And in April, in their climate and energy diplomacy strategy, EU Foreign Affairs Ministers cemented the transition away from fossil fuels as a key priority, acknowledged the risks of relying on imported fossil fuels and agreed that the clean energy transition is the most effective strategy towards achieving Europe’s strategic autonomy.
“Let’s be clear: future EU–Canada energy cooperation should reduce fossil-fuel dependence, not facilitate new long-term LNG lock-in. Energy security means ending structural dependence on fossil fuels.”
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Canada’s farthest-reaching network of organizations working on climate and energy issues, Climate Action Network – Réseau action climat (CAN-Rac) Canada is a coalition of close to 200 organizations operating from coast to coast to coast. Our membership brings environmental groups together with trade unions, First Nations, social justice, development, health and youth organizations, faith groups and local, grassroots initiatives.
For more information or to arrange an interview, contact:
Audrey Robillard, Bilingual Communications Coordinator
audreyrobillard@climateactionnetwork.ca
Image: European Union flags (Guillaume Perigois/Unsplash)