Foreign Affairs Committee on May 2nd, 2023

[Peter MacDougall]

In 2021, the government renewed its commitment to climate finance, doubling it from $2.65 billion to $5.3 billion. We're now in year three of those investments.

The first round of climate finance from 2012 to 2020 resulted in significant mitigation, offsetting 228 megatonnes of greenhouse gases.

In our current portfolio, 60% of the portfolio is focused on climate mitigation, and 40% is focused on climate adaptation. We're delivering that funding, which is a combination of loans and grants, through large multilateral investments. There's a coal transition piece of work that we're doing with Climate Investment Funds at the World Bank. We're also working with smaller organizations to deliver adaptation outcomes to help small farmers and small communities adapt to climate change, and we work with both Canadian and international NGOs, as well as with, as I said, UN institutions and the international financial institutions.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Thank you.

Can you share with the committee the progress to deliver on Canada's commitment to helping developing countries transition from low-carbon economies to building resilience to the effects of climate change?

[Peter MacDougall]

Certainly. I mentioned the coal transition initiative that we invested $1 billion into with the World Bank. We're also working with other members of the G7 on just energy transition partnerships, with countries like South Africa, Indonesia, to help them transition from coal burning to a greener future.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

How is Canada's climate financing supporting women and girls, indigenous people and the poorest and the most vulnerable?

[Peter MacDougall]

One of the targets I did not mention when I talked about the mitigation-adaptation split is that 80% of our work in the climate finance portfolio targets gender equality. We have already exceeded that target at year three of the new five-year investment.

That informs all of our investments. It's something we consider upfront. It plays out in terms of how we work with large institutional investments. We're driving the gender-equality investment lens perspective with some of the larger institutions that we deal with. We also work with smaller organizations that either bring that perspective or work with a range of partners that can deliver these results on the ground.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

To transition to a different point, how is Canada's global aid distributed continentally: Africa versus Asia, Polynesian countries, eastern Europe, etc.?

[Peter MacDougall]

Thank you. I'm going to answer a question that's actually related to that. It was asked earlier, but I didn't get a chance to answer it. About 25% of our international assistance is delivered by the multilateral channel and 75% is delivered bilaterally. There was a question on Canadian organizations, and I believe that 25% of our overall envelope goes to Canadian organizations.

I'd have to get back to you on the breakdown. I should say that we do have a target that 50% of our international assistance should be delivered in sub-Saharan Africa. As for how the rest of the world breaks down, I'd have to return to you.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

There used to be a program under CIDA a long time ago for adopting a village. People from Canada would raise a certain percentage of the funds—sometimes the World Bank, sometimes others—and then CIDA would put in the other half. It would almost double up, kind of like a donor policy.

Is there any such program that already exists or is in the works anywhere in the world that Global Affairs is running?

[Patricia Peña]

Thank you for the question, Chair.

We are always evolving the projects that we do. We do that both in response to the countries we're working with, making sure we're responding to their needs and what they're looking for, and also, particularly in the cases where we work with Canadian partners, the ideas they have and the relationships they have with their counterparts in developing countries.

We don't have a project exactly like that, but there are initiatives that involve, for instance, bringing in Canadian expertise.

I'll maybe link to a question that was asked earlier. There's a partnering for climate initiative that is currently under way. We did a call for proposals that involves Canadian indigenous organizations. The idea is for them to be able to share their knowledge and expertise and then partner with those communities in countries so that there can be shared learning.

This is part of those evolving projects. Something like that maybe didn't exist before but is very much responsive to the issues that those countries and communities have identified.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you, Mr. Sarai.

Its now being 12:45, I'm afraid that will conclude our session of questions with officials.

Allow me at this opportunity to thank Peter MacDougall, Anick Ouellette, Patricia Peña, Annie Boyer and Andrew Smith for being with us and answering all of the questions posed by the members.

I'll remind the members that at our next meeting on Thursday, May 4, there will be an appearance by Minister Mélanie Joly.

We will suspend briefly to allow our witnesses to depart and will continue with the last portion of our meeting, which will be in camera.

Members who are attending via Zoom, please use the other hyperlink and connection information that was sent by the clerk.

We will resume in camera in a few minutes. Thank you.

[Proceedings continue in camera]