The climate negotiations continue in earnest behind closed doors in smaller contact groups, while the Ministers make speeches in Plenary. It is supposed to be the last day, but it may spill into the weekend.
Yesterday, Canada’s Environment Minister Jim Prentice told the delegates that Canada was pursuing clean natural gas through pipelines to the north, without mentioning that the natural gas is largely headed to fuel tar sands oil production in the Athabasca region of Alberta. He noted that Canada is committed to reducing emissions 20% by 2020. As is now Canadian custom, as in the Speech from the Throne, Canada official-speak never includes the base year. Canada alone bases its reductions as against emissions in 2006, when they were 24% higher than in 1990. Tellingly one of the items of the brief agreement signed by the Parliamentary Opposition leaders for a Coalition Government was that Canada stick to a 1990 base year, like the rest of the world.
Canada tried behind closed doors (although the delegation officials denied it) to weaken the targets for industrialized countries of 24-40% below 1990 levels by 2020. This was the language accepted last year at COP13 in Bali without binding industrialize countries to accept these.
Once again yesterday Canada received one of the Fossil of the Day awards – third place. That brings up our fossil total to over 8. Here’s the citation:
“Canada snags Third Fossil for ordering the Secretariat to tear down a photo presentation on the Alberta Tar Sands on display at the USCAN table. The display, set up by youth delegates, highlighted the tar sands, which are projected to create 80 million tonnes of new annual CO2 emissions between now and 2020 and will prevent Canada from meeting any significant emissions reductions targets.
Canada apparently told the Secretariat that it was highly offended by the photo display. How about this for a deal: if Canada stops devastating the environment through its tar sands, we'll stop putting up pictures of the tar devastating the environment.”
One of the best speeches by any country’s Minister of the Environment was just now in Plenary. John Gormely is the Minister of Environment from Ireland. He pointed out that the world must shift from spending billions upon billions for war and preparation for war to addressing the climate crisis. And that if we can mobilize more billions for bail-out for the financial sector, then surely there is funding to assist the poorest nations cope with adaptation to climate change. And surely we can come to an agreement that is ambitious and meets the demands of the climate before next year’s conference in Copenhagen.
I had wanted to meet Ireland’s Environment Minister. He is a Green Party MP, serving in a coalition government. We chatted briefly. I am trying to get him to come to our next policy convention.
In about an hour, Al Gore will be speaking in the adjacent plenary room. John Kerry is here as well, and Leonardo de Caprio is offering personal autographs to delegations endorsing tough targets for Copenhagen. Whatever works…