Canadian Strategy in Climate Negotiations: Avoid Attending

While the over 100 World Leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chinese President Hu Jintao attended the largest ever gathering to discuss Climate at the United Nations; Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper was not in attendance and sent Environment Minister Jim Prentice instead.

This was the largest ever United Nations Climate Summit, called by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York to address the importance of moving ahead quickly toward a global agreement on Climate Change as the clock ticks down to December’s final meetings in Copenhagen.

Being Prime Minister of Canada does indeed create scheduling conflicts. Sometimes it’s hard to choose between conficting events that occur on the same day….

Canada’s Prime Minister, Harper visited donut shop for photo-op instead of representing Canada at the UN.

Canada’s Strategy in Climate Negotiations: Avoid Attending

Canadian PM Hiding behind Obama

Stephen Harper, speaking at a press conference at the G20 in Pittsburgh last week, again distanced the Canadian government from supporting a fair, ambitious and binding agreement in Copenhagen.

“I would cite what President Obama said to us at our meetings and that is that while Copenhagen is a very important meeting we should not view it as a make or break on climate change. It will be a step, an ongoing step, Harper, said yesterday. Harper attributed the comments by Obama in addition to saying he was not inclined to take up the challenge issued by Gordon Brown to attend the meeting in Copenhagen, in order to add political weight to the UNFCCC negotiations.

What??? Our Prime Minister is not going to even attend the meetings in Copenhagen?

The Canadian avoidance of dialogue on Climate Change stands in stark contrast to overtures by China and Japan. Japan’s new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, whose nation generates more than 4 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases, took advantage of the Climate Summit in New York to pledge his nation to seek a 25 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020.

What is Canada pledging for Copenhagen?

The IPCC is urging developed countries to reduce emissions by at least 25% below 1990 levels by 2020

Canada’s prime minister doesn’t recognize 1990 as the base level for cutting carbon emissions and has walked away from our International commitment to Kyoto. Under Kyoto, Canada had agreed to cut emissions 6% from 1990 levels by 2012.

Instead, Canada’s emissions are still on the rise and at present are 22% above 1990 levels.