Canada-China Relations committee  If I may, Mr. Chair, I am going to let my colleagues from Fisheries and Oceans Canada answer the question.

Canada-China Relations committee  Mr. Chair, we are absolutely conscious that the effort to address the global environment.... We talk about a global effort, and all the effort begins at home, really. We can't expect to work well with countries abroad if we can't co-operate with our provincial, territorial and municipal governments here.

Canada-China Relations committee  Mr. Chair, it is absolutely the case that China is the world's greatest emitter. It emits 27% of GHG and accounts for half of the use of coal in the world. That is absolutely the case. Fundamentally, though, I think the only way we can move China forward is by engaging with China.

Canada-China Relations committee  Mr. Chair, the $200 million followed on the COP in Montreal. It was the global biodiversity framework fund we contributed to, a few months later. I'm going to turn to my colleague responsible for biodiversity, who is Kelly.

Canada-China Relations committee  There are a couple of things that are approaching that. One is, as you suggested, working with those smaller countries themselves, and I'll come back to that. There's also the fact that all of this is tied to one single global environment. How we can help them best is by helping the entire world achieve the goals that it needs to achieve, the plans that it needs to achieve, to keep the world within the 1.5°C warming.

Canada-China Relations committee  For the moment, we have no projects with Taiwan. That said, we do have some projects with governments at various levels, through our climate funding envelope. As I said in my introductory statement, we have projects with subregional governments and even municipalities. We are not constrained to engaging only with states.

Canada-China Relations committee  I think one thing that is clear is that, even with countries that we may not agree with a great deal, it's important that we engage on questions that affect the globe. Environment is one of those questions. Our ability to speak to countries that we have tense relationships with is important—

Canada-China Relations committee  I understand.

Canada-China Relations committee  I can say a couple of things. First of all, the visit to China allowed the minister to meet with his counterpart. It allowed him to co-chair the China council for international co-operation on environment and development. That was an important session that was attended, in its final iteration, by the Vice-Premier himself to hear exactly the recommendations not only of Canada as co-chair but of those present.

Canada-China Relations committee  Mr. Chair, clearly our ability to engage substantively with the Indo-Pacific is critical to how the globe is going to address climate change. You heard my introductory remarks. These are huge emitters, and we need to push them to make a difference in how they behave. At the same time, we need to look at those countries most affected and help them adapt and address their environmental impacts like rising sea levels.

Canada-China Relations committee  First, I want to clarify that the figure is approximately $16 million and it is Global Affairs Canada that manages this project. Yes, there are other support projects in the Indo-Pacific region that fall under the foreign affairs and environment departments. Some projects relate to biodiversity specifically.

Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. The Indo-Pacific region is essential to Canada's global efforts to address the triple threats of climate change, nature loss and pollution. Home to both China and India, this region accounts for half the world's population, half the world's carbon emissions and many of the world's most biodiverse countries.