Why Canada should drop its net-zero pledge to cut carbon emissions
At the climate summit held in Paris in December 2015, the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed to reducing Canadian emissions of greenhouse gases (most importantly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels) to 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
Last fall, the prime minister made a new commitment, promising that by 2050 Canadian emissions would be net-zero. This means emissions would be drastically reduced and any remaining emissions would be offset by using negative emissions technologies, such as tree planting or carbon capture from the air, to take an equivalent amount of carbon out of the atmosphere.