Canada slammed for its climate policies; lack of leadership

It is not often that one has the opportunity to participate in a process that directly impacts over 180 nations around the world. However, while the majority of students were focusing on their exams in December one student and 7 recent graduates of the University of Guelph participated in the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia.

As part of the Canadian Youth Delegation (CYD) we travelled half-way around the world to Bali to join over 200 global youth in advocating for the political leadership necessary to achieve international consensus on the most pressing issue of our generation – climate change.

The 32 person CYD included representatives from every Canadian province and one territory and the team was composed of students, trained journalists, young professionals, climate activists and policy experts.

The youth message to the United Nations was that we needed a ‘Bali Breakthrough’, an international agreement whereby countries would acknowledge the threat posed by climate change, use science to inform their mitigation policies and emission reduction targets, and ultimately take action to prevent our generation from inheriting the worst of those environmental changes predicted for the future.

In Bali, our delegation experienced a deep sense of disappointment about the Canadian government’s performance on the international stage. Canada’s reputation on the climate change issue is being seriously eroded. Our Minister’s actions in Bali were confusing at best, embarrassing at worst. Canada’s policies were slammed by other nation’s delegates, leading UN scientists, and environmental groups alike.

Canada’s Poor Performance

John Baird, Canada’s Minister of the Environment turned in a dismal performance in Bali. Here is a recap of Minister Baird’s and Canada’s official activities in Bali.

1. On the Minister’s first night in Bali he crashed a party.

During an event hosted by non-governmental organizations Minister Baird arrived and promptly engaged in a shouting match with a delegate representing the David Suzuki Foundation. The crux of Minister Baird’s argument? That Canadian environmentalists were to blame for government inaction on climate change (strange, I thought he was the Minister responsible for that portfolio?). His favourite debate technique? Getting within 6 inches of your face, yelling, and tapping you repeatedly on the shoulder. The term ‘bulldog’ is a complete understatement when describing this Minister’s style.

2. The Minister failed to explain Canada’s official climate change policy.

At a conference side event advertised for several months as a presentation by Canada’s Minister of the Environment of the government’s “Turning the Corner” climate change plan, Minister Baird arrived in flip-flops, shook hands with some Petro Canada folks at the back of the room, and then quickly left. The Minister’s absence left the UN audience shocked, a room of over 100 youth, media, and international delegates questioned why the Canadian government had refused to present its (widely criticized) plan as advertised. The Minister’s aides were overheard berating the conference staff for an apparently inadequate sound system. A sound system that did not, however, stop 3 invited Canadian industry representatives from giving presentations on carbon capture and storage, biofuels, and clean electricity generation technologies in the Minister’s absence.

3. The Minister refused to accept a petition from Canadians asking for action on climate change.

Tired of seeing our country lambasted by others for its inaction and attempts to block progressive elements of the negotiations in Bali the CYD, in collaboration with other organizations, distributed a petition which was signed by over 65,000 Canadians in 48 hrs. We attempted to deliver it, but after repeated attempts to contact the Minister he refused to meet with us (our delegation did however meet with the UK Environment Minister, the Ontario Environment Minister, the Alberta Environment Minister, the Indonesian Environment Minister, etc...) Minister Baird’s aide had this response to our petition: “65,000? That’s a big membership...” (dripping with sarcasm). Over 110,000 have now signed [you can too! ].

4. Canada’s climate change policies were widely criticized by the international community.
In Bali, the UN’s chief climate diplomat, Yvo De Boer, portrayed Canada as a climate change hypocrite, our government demanding emission cuts by Third World countries while at the same time saying that we weren’t going to meet our own targets and commitments. Rajendra Pachauri, the Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the leading scientific body on climate change research had this to say about Stephen Harper’s administration, “This particular government has been a government of sceptics...they do not want to do anything on climate change”.
Even the Chinese (who, in Bali, gave an indication of their willingness to set emission targets) slammed our government by saying that Canada and Japan were emerging as the most uncooperative nations at the climate talks, particularly for trying to stop references to binding targets for industrialized nations. The German delegation called Canada’s position “unconstructive” and a Bangladesh delegate called Canada’s position “immoral”.

Adding insult to injury, Canada tied with the United States for the most ‘Fossil of the Day’ Awards during the conference. These mock ‘awards’ are presented daily by international youth on behalf of the NGO group Climate Action Network to those countries who are acting the most to block the progress of climate change negotiations.

But the piece de resistance came on the last day of the conference when the USA and Canada made a last ditch effort to slow action on climate change by blocking any reference in the text of the final agreement to the science behind the targets needed to mitigate dangerous climate change. The US and Canadian positions were ultimately reversed by an overwhelming show of solidarity by the vast majority of the nations of the world. Being dragged kicking and screaming, Canada was forced to accept the ‘Bali Roadmap’ to future climate change actions.

At a time when most Canadians list climate change as their number one concern (even more than health care) the Canadian government’s inaction on the subject is disturbing. Change may be in the air however, while Minister Baird didn’t meet with us in Bali, Stephane Dion took us out for drinks and told us to expect an election over this issue shortly. Al Gore told us in Bali that even in the United States people are waking up to the climate crisis, all the more reason to hope that new years resolutions for a greener planet in 2008 will come true.

Adam MacIsaac was a member of the Canadian Youth Delegation to the Bali United Nations Climate Change Conference (www.cydbali.org) and is managing a youth climate change publication at Peace Child International. For more information about the Bali meeting visit www.unfccc.int.