Hon. Mary Coyle: Honourable senators, I rise today with my head spinning, my spirits elevated and with a strengthened resolve to encourage everyone to urgently come to the climate action table. I was honoured to join fellow Senators Bovey and Galvez as part of the Canadian delegation at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt, which attracted 30,000 registrants from 197 countries, including the largest Indigenous contingent ever. This was touted as the “COP of implementation.”

Canada had an impressive delegation, representing all sectors and regions, and our pavilion hosted a high-quality series of substantive events. We discussed mitigation, reducing and eliminating emissions, adaptation to climate impacts, stepping up and greatly expanding climate finance from billions to trillions, reforming the Bretton Woods Institutions and creating a “loss and damage” fund for the countries hardest hit by climate impacts.

We discussed Indigenous-led climate action and rights, the disproportionate impacts on women, women as leaders on solutions and not just victims, energy transitions and energy security, whole-of-economy transitions, just transitions, culture, oceans, more focus on methane, the cryosphere, cities, nature, biodiversity, agriculture and forests. We discussed drought in Africa and that continent’s vast potential for solar energy, protecting the Congo basin, glaciers melting in Nepal, small island states at risk, Ukraine and the absolute imperative of upping ambition internationally and in Canada to ensure we keep the shared goal of 1.5 °C alive.

At COP27, Sara Olsvig, Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, said:

The Inuit reality has become the global reality. It is important to recognize the interconnectedness of our human rights and climate.

Dr. Courtney Howard of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment described the need for an adaptation sprint given the realities of the irreversible extreme heat, heat domes, wildfires and summers of smoke and floods.

John Kerry, U.S. climate envoy, said:

Adaptation is critical even though there is a point where, if we do not reduce emissions sufficiently, we’re not capable of adapting our way out of the climate catastrophe.

Brazil’s president-elect, the inspiring Lula da Silva, said:

Today I am here to say that Brazil is back and ready to build a healthier planet — with the survival of the Amazon rainforest we can help ensure the survival of the world. We need each other to survive, we need more confidence and determination, we need more leadership.

Honourable colleagues, Lula is right. We need leadership more than ever. Honourable colleagues, let’s step up. Thank you.