In the buildup to the Paris climate conference towards the end of this year, Canada has promised to announce post-2020 emissions targets by early June. Meanwhile the country’s provinces and territories – with the exception of Alberta – have formed a common front to exert pressure on the federal government.  Three-quarters of all Canadians live in provinces where carbon emissions will be taxed  At a meeting in Quebec City in April, Quebec’s premier Philippe Couillard said that, with the Paris conference, 2015 would be a “pivotal year”, but to make it a success capitals all over the world, and federal states and regions, must start work now. Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN framework convention on climate change, acknowledged their role, announcing at the Quebec gathering that the Paris conference would hold a special one-day meeting for subnational bodies. It was, she said, important to encourage a range of efforts and approaches by governments to end use of fossil fuels.  Ontario stole the show the day before the Quebec meeting when the driving force behind the Canadian economy signed up to a carbon trading market set up by California as part of the Western Climate Initiative. Quebec joined the scheme last year. Now that Ontario has joined the cap-and-trade scheme, three-quarters of all Canadians live in provinces where carbon emissions will be taxed.  The aim of the Quebec summit was above all to display a joint determination to move forward on making the Canadian economy more “carbon sober” and increase cooperation on combating climate change.  In this respect the gathering was a success, but only partly so. The absence of Alberta premier Jim Prentice cast a shadow on this show of provincial unity. Alberta is hostile to the carbon market and was Canada’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in 2012 (ahead of Ontario, according to federal government figures).  Furthermore, the provinces do not all agree on climate strategy. To the east of Alberta, Saskatchewan is also standing up for its oil industry. Premier Brad Wall pointed out at the Quebec meeting that Canada accounts for under 2% of global emissions. Moreover his province is working to reduce them, having invested $1.3bn in a carbon capture system, on the Boulder Dam coal-fired power plant, which traps 90% of the associated emissions.  Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne countered: “Yes, we are a small country in terms of our population and absolute emissions, but we are heavy emitters per capita.”  However the first ministers attending the summit did agree on one point: they were all critical of the federal government. At the closing press conference, Couillard said: “We call upon the federal government right now to start working with us, first technically, then with the ministers, in order to work together in establishing our targets for Paris and the way we’re going to present our situation, our plans in the future.”  Relations between the two echelons of government are clearly tense, each blaming the other for delays setting targets for after 2020.  The priority of the federal government is economic growth, which depends on capitalising on Canada's oil reserves  Singled out on account of its poor performance on emissions abatement, after it withdrew from the Kyoto protocol in 2011, Canada will be hard put to achieve the modest target it subsequently set: a 17% reduction by 2020 on 2005 emissions.  Highlighting the carbon-pricing schemes that four provinces (British Columbia, Quebec, Ontario and Alberta) were introducing, Couillard nevertheless asserted that “the provinces taking part were all determined to move forward”. He also cited the carbon taxes and countless green initiatives, all of which were constructive.  In April federal environment minister Leona Aglukkaq urged provincial governments to report on measures to cut emissions after 2020, so that targets could be set at a national level. But Couillard said this would not work: “There’s no way it can be done in isolation. One order of government cannot ask the other to do the job. It has to be done together.”  The position of the prime minister, Stephen Harper, and the federal government is well known. The overall priority is economic growth, which depends on capitalising on Canada’s substantial oil reserves, including tar sands. Couillard condemned this stance at the summit, claiming that combating climate change could kickstart the economy, whereas doing nothing would ultimately prove very costly.  Figueres endorsed this view, citing a recent study by the International Energy Agency, which shows that over the past five years the global economy has expanded by 3%, whereas greenhouse gas emissions have steadied.  • This article was amended on 29 April 2015. An earlier version mistakenly stated that new emissions targets being lined up for Paris climate conference will be for the period up to 2020. The new emissions targets will be set for beyond 2020.  This article appeared in Guardian Weekly, which incorporates material from Le Monde
Despite Alberta’s absence, a provincial alliance aims to take steps to make the Canadian economy more ‘carbon sober’ before Paris climate conference