North American leaders strike climate change deal

Canada, the United States and Mexico announced a new clean energy and climate deal on Wednesday (Jun 29) that pledges to produce 50 per cent of their nations' electricity from clean energy sources by 2025. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, US President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto spoke at a joint news conference in Ottawa at the end of a summit known colloquially as the “The Amigos”.

The aim of the climate change deal is to produce 50 per cent of the continent's overall electricity from "clean energy", including from solar and wind, nuclear and hydroelectric generation, by 2025. This is up from 27 per cent in 2015.

"The Paris Agreement was a turning point for our planet, representing unprecedented accord on the urgent need to take action to combat climate change through innovation and deployment of low-carbon solutions," the leaders said in a joint statement calling for the accord to come into force before the end of the year. 

“North America has the capacity, resources and the moral imperative to show strong leadership building on the Paris Agreement and promoting its early entry into force. We recognise that our highly integrated economies and energy systems afford a tremendous opportunity to harness growth in our continuing transition to a clean energy economy.

The statement added: "Our actions to align climate and energy policies will protect human health and help level the playing field for our businesses, households, and workers."

Mexico also joined a commitment already made by the United States and Canada to reduce emissions of methane - a powerful greenhouse gas - by 40 to 45 per cent by 2025, compared to 2012.

“This agreement values our shift towards clear renewable energy,” Trudeau said. “How we work together on energy solutions that give opportunities to our citizens while protecting future generations from the impacts of climate change is something that we are all entirely agreed on."