Did you think that Canada was leading the charge when it comes to climate change or at least doing a pretty good job? Well, according to a new study that isn't the case. A report by Climate Action Network says that Canada's climate change plan is one of the worst and that is not welcome news for Canadians. The report put out by Climate Action Network France looked at all G7 countries and the European Union ahead of the annual summit in France this weekend. Unfortunately, Canada is one of the worst among G7 nations, tied for second last place with Japan. If you guessed that the U.S. was in last place you'd be right. "This shows that G7 countries are not doing enough as seven of the most important economies on Earth," Eddy Pérez, international policy analyst for Climate Action Network Canada, told Narcity. The G7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.S. and the UK. The Climate Action Network report, originally in French, states that Canada's current climate change plan would see global temperatures rise by more than 4 C and it is unclear how Canada plans to achieve its climate change goals. "We still have the opportunity to implement policies that allow us to change the course and avoid the worst impacts of climate change," said Pérez. As news of the report hit social media, many were not too pleased with Canada's climate change action and people didn't hold any punches when talking about it. The irony of Trudeau jumping on the #AmazonRainforest whilst green lighting pipelines through indigenous peoples lands in Canada shows hie shallow the G7 commitment to climate really is. https://t.co/WFjnjEySFo— asad rehman (@chilledasad100) August 23, 2019 This morning a report stated that Canada's climate plan is among the worst at the G7. So much for the Liberal party's claim to fame.— Heather Paddle (@HeatherPaddle) August 23, 2019 So proud.🇨🇦Canada Doing The Worst Among G7 In Fight Against Climate Change: Reporthttps://t.co/ncOymrjJAW— Doug Little 🌹✊ (@jdouglaslittle) August 23, 2019 I guess government-owned pipeline is not a good climate plan.— Chuck Braley (@BraleyChuck) August 23, 2019 Ah huh, and we can afford to rebuild after extreme weather events? Can we afford to take care of the millions of climate change refugees that will exist? We can afford to bail out farmers after failed crop after failed crop?— Nelson (@saosin182) August 23, 2019 Even Jagmeet Singh commented on the news today on Twitter. Justin Trudeau gave pretty speeches on climate, then badly let down Canada, and the world. I’m really proud of my New Deal for climate action and good jobs. Let’s take the side of the next generation, instead of caving to big polluters. https://t.co/SYWOKPZTCG— Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) August 23, 2019 But tehnically it's not all bad. The report does mention that Canada has taken some good initiatives when it comes to climate change like moving away from coal, committing to reduce emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 and being part of the Carbon Neutrality Coalition. "Domestically, Canada has actually made some progress since 2016," said Pérez. "[But] when we look at Canada's contribution to the global response, it is extremely insufficient." The biggest take away from the report is that Canada and basically every country in the world needs to step it up when it comes to climate change. According to Pérez, hope is not lost and there are still things nations can do. "If leaders are going to the G7 to show off we're not going to accept it. It will be unacceptable for G7 leaders to say that they're climate champions when we know that all those countries domestically are not doing enough to respond to the climate crisis," said Pérez. Not only will climate change be front of mind at the G7 summit, the report even states that climate change will be a key issue in the upcoming federal election happening in October. The 45th G7 Summit is happening in France from Aug. 24 to Aug. 26. There are stories everywhere. If you spot a newsworthy event in your city, send us a message, photo, or video @NarcityCanada on Twitter and Instagram.
