Washington, D.C. – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s arrival in Washington next week for his first state dinner is an opportunity for he and President Barack Obama to create a path forward to jointly curb climate change. According to an issue brief released by the Center for American Progress today, Canada and the United States should agree to a set of four actions that will move both countries toward meeting their climate goals and provide a starting point for future negotiations with Mexico as the three nations look to create a continental climate pact.
“Prime Minister Trudeau’s election offers an important opportunity for Canada to break from the unhelpful climate policies of the last decade and set a course with the United States and Mexico to meet climate change goals continentwide,” said
Cathleen Kelly, CAP Senior Fellow and author of the brief. “It is at the state visit next week that the groundwork should be laid. The president and the prime minister agree on much, and this is a perfect time to start working together toward the nations’ shared goals.”
Climate change poses a real and dire threat that will only worsen with time. The president and the prime minister can lock in bold, new climate change and clean energy partnerships now and help avoid the catastrophic effects of climate change that will happen in the decades to come without action.
The four actions on which the prime minister and the president should focus are:
- Cutting methane pollution from oil and gas development
- Promoting renewable energy generation and trade
- Curbing black carbon pollution in the Arctic
- Improving the global understanding of Arctic warming risks
Click
here to read the issue brief.
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, contact Tom Caiazza at [email protected] or 202.481.7141.