6 May 2009: The leaders of the EU and Canada met in Prague, Czech Republic, on 6 May 2009, for their regular summit and adopted a declaration reiterating that their priority areas include climate change and the environment, and energy security and sustainability. In the declaration, the EU and Canadian leaders expressed their commitment to continue their cooperation in the context of their High-Level Dialogue on Energy, highlighting carbon capture and storage (CCS), bioenergy, and distributed generation and smart electricity networks as priority collaboration areas.
The leaders indicated their intention to: move forward the process to review the Euratom-Canada cooperation agreement regarding peaceful uses of atomic energy; work together in the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation (IPEEC); and collaborate closely towards an ambitious and comprehensive global climate agreement in Copenhagen in December 2009 that “places us on the pathway to achieving at least a 50% reduction in global greenhouse gases by 2050.” They also agree on the need for the new climate change agreement to include: all major emitters, taking into account mitigation potential and national circumstances; comparable mid-term emission reduction goals by developed countries by 2020; mitigation actions by developing countries, except the least-developed, that lead to a substantial and quantifiable deviation from current emissions growth rates by 2020; and adequate, predictable and timely financial support for implementation.
The leaders also expressed their support for the development of the international carbon market, noting its essential role in achieving emissions reductions at the lowest cost and encouraging investment in low-carbon technologies. On greenhouse gas emissions from international aviation and maritime transport, they called on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to rapidly advance work on emissions reductions in those sectors. On reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD), they underlined its potential in a future climate regime. [The declaration]