North American Leaders’ Summit and Canada’s Environmental Commitment Tweet Chat

The Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, answered your questions via a tweet chat on Twitter regarding the North American Leaders’ Summit, Canada’s environmental commitment and Canada-Mexico environmental cooperation.

Tweet Chat Infographic. See text description below.

Text description

Tweet Chat

North American Leaders’ Summit and the Environment

June 30, 2016, at 11 a.m. EDT

Handles: @ec_minister and @ministre_ec

#NALSchat

North America Leaders' Summit
Ottawa - June 29, 2016

Twitter Q&A terms of use
  1. Please read the Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) Terms of Use.
  2. During the Twitter Q&A, the Minister will tweet video responses and alternate between the English and French accounts.
  3. Replies will be posted in the same language as the original tweet. Responses will not be duplicated in the other official language.
  4. Please use the English hashtag when asking an English question and French hashtag when asking a French question.
  5. During the Twitter Q&A, the Minister will only answer questions about the stated topic.
  6. Questions will be answered only during the time period allowed for the Q&A session.
  7. Depending on the volume of questions received, ECCC may not be able to respond to all tweets.

A French transcript is available.

user icon@cyberwuff
Q1. .@cathmckenna #NALSchat The goals for 2025 sound good, but I couldn’t help notice the working “strive to achieve”. Doesn’t sound binding…? #NALSchat
user icon@ec_minister
A1. “Yesterday, we had a really great announcement! All of the goals are rooted in domestic actions. So, while we’ve talked about what we’re all going to do together, we need to be taking domestic actions; so, when we look at methane — reducing by 40 to 45% — we are already working on the regulations.” Watch the video response to cyberwuff
user icon@cyberwuff
Q2. .@ec_minister Thanks for reply. Encouraging. Still, can anything be done to make pledges binding? Or is that down to COP treaties? #NALSchat
user icon@ec_minister
A2. “So, you are right! The Paris Agreement is really key. Under the agreement, every country has to develop their plan as how they are going to tackle their emission, and that’s what we are doing right now, and we are going to be announcing our plan in the fall.” Watch the video response to cyberwuff
user icon@brody_sv
Q3. .@ec_minister What is the most important issue facing the environment today? #NALSchat
user icon@ec_minister
A3. “So, as you saw yesterday, clearly climate change is the biggest issue we face, but it is tied to everything else. So, when we talk about species at risk, we know that we are going to see more species at risk, but also, there is a huge economic opportunity. We have said that the environment and the economy go together, so looking at how do we ensure that when we take action against climate change, we are actually growing our economy, and that’s our plan.” Watch the video response to brody_sv
user icon@brody_sv
Q4. .@ec_minister If you could choose one alternative energy source to develop, which one would you choose? Why? #NALSchat
user icon@ec_minister
A4. “I think we just need to make sure that we have clean electricity and that we can electrify more things. So, when we do work on electric vehicles, when we look at other areas, what is most important is that we are getting clean electricity, so moving away from things like coal.” Watch the video response to brody_sv
user icon@MikeSoron
Q5. Thank you for taking question, @ec_minister, on #NALSchat. Did #NALS2016 make time to discuss Can/Mex/US fossil fuel subsidies? #CdnPoli
user icon@ec_minister
A5. “All three governments recognize the need to reduce subsidies of fossil fuels which we are working on. But, we also need to make sure that we are prioritizing renewable, which is also a huge priority when you read the agreement.” Watch the video response to MikeSoron
user icon@millymtl
Q6. .@ec_minister @cathmckenna Thanks for this! Will new energy commitments make Cdn clean energy a prosperous export? #NALSchat #GoGreen
user icon@ec_minister
A6. “Absolutely! We’ve always said that the environment and the economy go together, and this is a great example of how we can provide a solution to the U.S., maybe Mexico as well. We have clean electricity; we have a lot of hydro power so there’s a real opportunity there!” Watch the video response to millymtl
user icon@EmilieG_B
Q7. .@cathmckenna: When will #Canada implement new #GHG reduction targets (to align with the world and the #ParisAccord)? #NALSchat
user icon@ec_minister
A7. We are now working with the provinces and territories, we are listening to Canadians around the country and we will announce our plan in the fall.” Watch the video response to EmilieG_B [in french only]
user icon@SierraClubACC
Q8. Will we protect env’l assessment processes from NAFTA Tribunals? #StopTheQuarry @ecelaw @ecojustice_ca http://ow.ly/DfUo302lHr5 #NALSchat
user icon@ec_minister
A8. “In really good news, a couple of weeks ago, we announced that we were reviewing our environmental assessment processes. It’s really important that we rebuilt trust and we ensure that we have a modern environmental system, so I hope everyone weighs in. We have the draft Terms of Reference out right now and then we will have an expert panel that will be seeking input all through the fall.” Watch the video response to SierraClubACC
user icon@ejwensing
Q9. .@ec_minister How inspirational is @CFigueres??!! #EarthDay
user icon@ec_minister
A9. “Christiana Figueres is so inspirational! She did an absolutely amazing job. Really excited to see so many women involved in the climate file, and looking forward to working with Patricia Espinosa who replaces Christiana Figueres and who’s from Mexico.” Watch the video response to ejwensing
user icon@Ghoti20
Q10. .@cathmckenna #NALSchat Biggest announcement yesterday was Mexico wanting to join the cap & trade market — do you agree?
user icon@ec_minister
A10. “There were a lot of big announcements yesterday. From Mexico, seeing them agree to our 50% clean energy plan was a really big deal. Also, signing on to the 40 to 45% reductions in emissions for methane, also really big. And it’s really good to see that they are looking at market mechanisms too to address climate change.” Watch the video response to Ghoti20
user icon@EmilieG_B
Q11. .@cathmckenna #NALSchat: Thank you. I look forward to seeing the targets. #GHG #ClimateChange #Canada
user icon@ec_minister
A11. "Thank you Émilie, but I also hope to hear your suggestions for climate action. So, share with me your solutions. #CANClimateAction.” Watch the video response to EmilieG_B [in french only]
user icon@ec_minister
Thank you all for your great questions, love hearing from you! #NALSchat
“WOW! Time flies! Le temps est allé très vite! J’aime beaucoup vous entendre. I really enjoyed hearing from you. Please make sure you provide us with your climate change solutions. Je veux entendre vos solutions. Merci!Watch the video response to all the participants
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