Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault heading to China for climate talks

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is heading to China at the end of the month for diplomatic talks on protecting nature and fighting climate change.

According to a statement from Guilbeault's office, the minister will be in the country from Aug. 26 to Aug. 31 to attend the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED). 

He'll follow in the wake of other government officials and leaders from the United States, France, Germany and the European Commission who have visited China since Beijing lifted COVID-19 restrictions a couple of months ago.

Those restrictions led Canada to host the United Nations biodiversity conference (COP15) in Montreal — a conference that was supposed to be held in China.

"The whole world is being confronted by the triple crises of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss," says a statement from Environment and Climate Change Canada. "These are crises that know no geopolitical borders and require urgent international cooperation.

"Addressing global environmental challenges requires China's engagement."

The news of Guilbeault's trip was first reported by Radio-Canada and the National Observer.

Guilbeault's trip to China comes as the federal government and opposition parties continue to discuss the need for a public inquiry into China's interference in Canadian democracy.

Asked to comment about Guilbeault's visit, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said the Liberals have done nothing to stand up to Beijing.

"We're demanding an immediate public inquiry and a full registry to identify and expose anyone who works for a foreign dictatorship in a paid capacity to manipulate our politics," Poilievre said. "This is common sense." 

'Climate change cannot be solved' without China

The Canadian Climate Action Network noted that this is the first time a Canadian minister has visited China since 2018.

The network's executive director, Caroline Brouillette, said there is no way the world can hold to 1.5 degrees of global warming unless the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter does its fair share. 

"Climate change cannot be solved without international cooperation," Brouillette said. "And that means that all the countries must be at the table. And leaving out certain parties, like China, for instance, would simply be counterproductive."

The 2016 Paris Agreement commits countries to working toward limiting warming to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels. The planet is inching closer to surpassing that target; the United Nations says the world has already warmed by at least 1.1 C.

According to the UN, global climate pledges have placed the world on track for a temperature rise of between 2.4 C and 2.6 C by 2100.

Catherine Abreu, a member of Canada's net-zero advisory panel and the head of Destination Zero — an international non-profit pushing to phase out fossil fuels — said that Guilbeault will have to press China to cooperate with climate change efforts while still pushing back against its human rights record.

"It will be important that the minister continue to make clear that cooperating with China — and any other country — on environmental protection does not mean that Canada will step back from being a strong voice for human rights protections and democratic freedom in the global community," Abreu said.