Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he is not proposing Canada exit the Paris Agreement

While it may not be a “full-throated” endorsement, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday he is not proposing to withdraw Canada from the landmark international climate treaty — the Paris Agreement.

As the world prepares for another climate summit, COP 28, Poilievre was asked Wednesday before heading into a caucus meeting with his Conservative MPs and senators if he would withdraw Canada from the climate treaty 

In French, Poilievre replied, “We are not proposing that.”

This appears to be the first time since Poilievre became Conservative leader in 2022 that he confirmed he’s not planning on pulling out of the Paris Agreement.

It also comes two weeks after Poilievre wouldn’t say if he would commit Canada to achieving its climate targets under the agreement — a reduction of between 40 and 45 per cent by 2030.

Poilievre’s latest comments don’t address whether Conservatives would commit to achieving those targets. Neither are they a ringing endorsement of the climate change agreement.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May called Poilievre’s remarks “reassuring” but said they also give Poilievre room to change his mind.

“It doesn’t sound like a full-throated endorsement,” May told CBC News. “It gives him room to say later, ‘We were not pulling out then but we are now.'”

May notes the Conservatives, under previous prime minister Steven Harper, withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2011. Canada ratified the international climate agreement in 1997 but was not on track to meet its legally binding targets.

Poilievre’s office was asked to clarify the leader’s comments. In response, it sent CBC a statement that highlighted an audit from the environment commissioner, which notes Canada is not on track to meet its targets set under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“After eight years of Trudeau, the Liberal government has not met a single solitary one of its own climate targets,” said Sebastian Skamski, director of media relations for the Opposition leader’s office. “In fact, Trudeau’s own environment commissioner gave his Liberal government a failing grade earlier this month.”

Skamski also said the Liberals flip-flopped on one of their foundational climate policies — carbon pricing.

“Trudeau’s expensive carbon tax is evidently a tax plan, not a climate plan, something he admitted with his heating oil ‘carve-out’,” he said in a statement.

‘Concerning lack’ of policy solutions 

Caroline Brouillette, the executive director of Climate Action Network Canada, said Poilievre’s comments Wednesday show a “concerning lack” of policy solutions to one of the most important issues the world faces.

“After a summer of record-breaking wildfires and smoke, the fact that the Conservative Party’s response to the climate crisis is ‘not proposing to withdraw from the Paris Agreement’ shows little regard to the safety of Canadians,” Brouillette said in a statement.

The Paris Agreement, which Canada signed in 2016, commits countries to work toward limiting warming to the critical threshold of 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels. According to the UN, the world is on track for a temperature rise of 2.9 degrees by the end of this century.

According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, surpassing 1.5 C could have catastrophic consequences for the planet.

Poilievre has faced pressure to share his plan for achieving Canada’s climate goals, with Liberals going as far as to say the Conservatives don’t have one.

“Pierre Poilievre would undo all our progress,” wrote Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault in a response to the Conservative leader’s comments. “There are no shortcuts to deal with climate change. As much as Poilievre would like to pretend, we can’t simply flip a switch.”

So far, Poilievre has said he would use technology and not “carbon taxes” to reduce emissions. Under him, Poilievre said, a Conservative government would green-light small modular nuclear reactors, hydroelectric dams, tidal wave power and other emissions-free energy.

WATCH | Reporters ask Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre about the Paris targets: 

Will Pierre Poilievre commit to achieving the Paris Agreement?

Featured VideoConservative Leader Pierre Poilievre responds to reporters’ questions about his emissions targets. The 2016 Paris Agreement, which Canada signed, commits countries to working toward limiting warming to the critical threshold of 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels.

Poilievre also faces pressure from the right-wing People’s Party of Canada for backing the Paris Agreement. On social media, the PPC drew attention to Poilievre’s support for the agreement, which the PPC opposes.

Former Republican U.S. President Donald Trump followed through with a similar move. When Democratic President Joe Biden took office in 2021, the U.S. rejoined the climate treaty.

In 2017, the House of Commons voted on a motion affirming Canada’s commitment to implement the Paris Agreement. Poilievre voted in support along with most of his caucus colleagues and other MPs.

Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant was the only MP to vote against the motion.