Canada is on track to miss its greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2030 and 2035, Prime Minister Mark Carney has admitted.

Speaking in an interview with Radio-Canada on Tuesday, Carney said the country’s current policies are insufficient to meet previously set goals. “What’s clear is that Canada is not going to reach our 2030 and 2035 climate targets with current policy. We need to change that,” he stated.

Under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the federal government had pledged in 2021 to cut carbon emissions by 40–45 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, and to establish a net-zero power grid by 2035.

Data shows that between 2005 and 2023, Canada reduced carbon emissions by just 8.5 percent. Experts warn emissions could rise again due to Carney’s policy changes, including the scrapping of a carbon tax for individuals and lifting emissions caps in the oil and gas sector.

Since taking office in March 2025, Carney’s government has pushed forward major energy projects aimed at turning Canada into an “energy superpower.” He argued that these investments will help reduce emissions in the long term.

Canada remains among the highest per-capita greenhouse gas emitters globally. The federal government recently reached an agreement with Alberta, the country’s oil-producing province, which led to the resignation of former Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault. Guilbeault expressed concerns that the climate policies he helped design were being dismantled.