Article content continued

The government is committed to one liquefied natural gas subsidy until 2025.

John Kirton, the founder and co-director of the G20 Research Group at the University of Toronto, said in Hangzhou Monday he wanted to see leadership from Trudeau.

The prime minister’s second G20 appearance could’ve been an opportunity to say, “we will end fossil fuels right now because we’re two years overdue,” he said.

I think politicians should keep their promises whether they’re home or here at the G20

“I think politicians should keep their promises whether they’re home or here at the G20,” he continued. “I want to see real leadership from the prime minister with that mandate.”

The government has made a variety of other commitments in green energy to match its rhetoric on the importance of combating climate change.

Still, despite the strong statement made by the United States and China in both ratifying last December’s Paris climate agreement on Saturday, the G20 countries didn’t make a collective decision to set a specific timeline for ratification, as many had hoped.

Trudeau said that there was clear consensus around working group tables Monday that ratification should happen “soon,” and that the U.S. and China had created “significant momentum.”

The government has been saying it would try to ratify by the end of 2016, but Trudeau only said it would happen in “coming months.”

Negotiating the deal within Canada could be difficult due to pushback from the provinces — something sure to dominate a First Ministers meeting coming before year’s end.

With a file from The Canadian Press.

Email: mdsmith@postmedia.com

mariedanielles