EDMONTON – Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says her government hopes to release substantial parts of its climate-change policy about one week before she leaves later this month for a global conference in Paris.
Notley said the province’s plan will include very significant changes that will put Alberta on what she calls a progressive and balanced path forward.
“We are going to do what we think we can do to improve our record in a way that not only supports Albertans but supports Albertans for generations to come,” she said Wednesday.
“But we are going to also do that in a balanced way that allows the industry to be healthy and prosperous.
“Not only does our economy depend on this but so frankly does the whole country’s.”
The United Nations summit on climate change is to take place in the French capital from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.
The meeting is aimed at negotiating targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions beyond 2020.
Notley said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has talked about different provinces coming up with their own climate change plans.
She said it remains to be seen how close Alberta’s targets will mesh with any federal plan.
Notley said Alberta’s policy will not necessarily be the same as a province with lots of hydro power.
“We are going to do our part,” she said.
“I’m confident that at least at the outset that we will be able to establish a pretty effective partnership with the federal government on this.”
Under former prime minister Stephen Harper, Canada withdrew from the original Kyoto protocol on greenhouse gas emissions.
Canada is currently not close to meeting its subsequent Copenhagen commitment of slashing emissions by 17 per cent by 2020.