Interview: Trudeau: Canada to be good energy partner with Europe but won't compromise climate goals
09/05/2022 24:54
By Tom Balmforth
KYIV, May 8 (Reuters) - Canada wants to be a good energy
partner to Europe but will not abandon its climate goals and
planned transition to cleaner fuels, Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau said late on Sunday.
Trudeau, in an unannounced visit to Ukraine, also said he
trusts the Bank of Canada as it attempts to tame three-decade
high inflation. Earlier, Trudeau said Canada will provide new
weapons and equipment for Ukraine and reopen its embassy in
Kyiv, the country's capital. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2X00DR
In March, Canada released a roadmap to meeting 2030 climate
targets, laying out detailed plans and C$9.1 billion ($7.3
billion) in spending to cut planet-warming carbon emissions
after years failing to meet its goals. It plans to cut carbon
emissions 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2030.
Oil and gas is Canada's highest-polluting sector, accounting
for 26% of total emissions. To meet the government's target,
the industry would need to make drastic cuts.
"Canada is one of the largest oil and gas producers in the
world, but at the same time, we know how important it is to move
even faster on the transition towards net zero," Trudeau said.
The government is in discussion with Repsol REP.MC and
Pieridae Energy PEA.TO , the companies behind two proposed east
coast liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities, to see how
it can speed up the projects and help boost supply to Europe,
Canada's natural resources minister told Reuters on Friday.
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"We're looking to be good partners on energy with our
European friends but we're never slowing down in our fight
against climate change," Trudeau said on Sunday.
"Part of that is recognizing that the same infrastructure
that can be used for LNG can also be used for hydrogen and
ammonia that are possibly going to fuel the transition off of
fossil fuels."
(Reporting in Kyiv by Tom Balmforth, Writing in Toronto by
Amran Abocar, editing by Diane Craft)
((amran.abocar@thomsonreuters.com;))