UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asks Canada to act on climate

OTTAWA -- Greens agree with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that climate change must be on the G20 summit agenda.  Next month in Toronto, Canada will be hosting the G20 summit, but Prime Minister Harper has been endeavouring to keep climate change off the agenda.

Last week, the president of the European Union Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, also urged Canada to act on climate change, saying "In Europe, we believe, according to science, that there is a real threat to our survival as a civilization. And for the future of our planet and the quality of life of our children … I think we have to move."

 “The government can not pretend that Canada is acting in good faith on the climate crisis.  Now we have international leaders telling us that we need to shape up,” said Green Leader Elizabeth May.  “Our international reputation is in tatters because of this government’s refusal to take action.  The G20 summit is an important opportunity for making progress on climate negotiations and Canada acting as an obstacle.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also urged Canada to work harder to meet our Kyoto commitments to reduce greenhouse gases.

“Mr. Harper is hoping that no one will notice as he ignores the real threat of climate change. Well, other countries have noticed and they are starting to react,” said Green Party of Canada Deputy Leader, Jacques Rivard. “Already there are discussions of trade sanctions against countries that do not live up to their emission reduction targets.  This lack of action will negatively impact Canadians in more ways than one.”

The Canadian government has also cancelled critical pre-meetings of the Environment Ministers at the G8 summit.  

“The whole world will think that Canadians don’t care about the security of our global climate and that is simply not true.  Canadians do care, but our government is not acting according to our wishes,” said Ms. May.

A Harris-Decima poll conducted on behalf of the Munk Debates in November of last year found that nearly two thirds of Canadians agreed that: "Climate change is mankind's defining crisis, and demands a commensurate response.

Contact Information:
Debra Eindiguer
Press Secretary
C: 613.240.8921
media@greenparty.ca