Carney Leaves Fate of 2030 Emission Reduction Target Unclear

(Bloomberg) -- Canada’s target to sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 is in question after Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government will “update” its climate plan, without offering further detail. 

Carney unveiled on Thursday a strategy that aims to double Canada’s electricity generation by 2050. To give more flexibility to power generators using natural gas, the plan would loosen the clean electricity rules brought in by former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The announcement is the latest move by the Carney government to roll back Trudeau-era climate policies. The previous prime minister aimed to achieve emissions reductions through regulation, but conservative provinces — particularly Alberta — often fought back with court challenges and outright defiance. 

Canada’s official policy is to cut emissions by 40 to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030. When asked whether his government still intends to meet it, Carney said, “we’ll update our climate plans and our emission reduction targets in due course.” 

He was later asked whether this means the government is changing its targets. 

“That’s not what I said,” Carney replied. “We are focused on practical steps that are going to get results. It doesn’t do us good to be sitting in court all the time with provinces. It doesn’t do us good to be talking past each other.”

Alberta strongly opposed environmental rules put into place by the Trudeau government, sometimes taking its fight to the courts. Many of those rules, such as the oil and gas emissions cap and the consumer carbon price, have been scrapped by Carney.

He’s instead pursued collaboration with the province through a memorandum of understanding that would offer federal support for a new oil pipeline, in exchange for a commitment to a carbon capture project and reforms to the province’s industrial carbon price. 

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Carney are expected to announce on Friday a deal that would ramp up the province’s industrial carbon price to C$130 ($95) per metric ton by 2040. While that is significantly lower than Trudeau’s target of C$170 per metric ton by 2030, the province’s carbon market has been oversupplied and malfunctioning, with credits and offsets trading at C$40 a metric ton on Wednesday. 

--With assistance from Brian Platt.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.