With Just 100 Days Left Before Climate Talks Begin in Copenhagen, Canada Must Change Course
(Ottawa) - Canada has just over 100 days left to change course before critical climate change talks get underway in Copenhagen, Denmark this December. A coalition of leading Canadian organizations that work on climate change used this Saturday’s milestone to call on Prime Minister Harper to stop lagging and start leading in the fight for a strong climate agreement at the Copenhagen climate negotiations.
“Canada has been a big part of the problem at the last three UN climate conferences. Now that the negotiations are in the home stretch, the world needs Canada to start leading,” says Graham Saul, Executive Director of the Climate Action Network Canada. “As a wealthy country that’s among the world’s top 10 emitters, Canada needs to do its fair share in tackling climate change. Instead, Canada’s government has garnered significant international criticism for its unconstructive role at the climate negotiations. It’s time for us to step up and do better, ” according to Saul.
For Canada to play a constructive role in Copenhagen, Prime Minister Harper must use the next 100 days to:
Strengthen Canada’s national greenhouse gas (GHG) targets. To make a fair contribution to avoiding dangerous climate change, Canada must reduce its emissions to least 25 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2020.
Implement a domestic plan for regulating industrial greenhouse gas pollution that is fair to all economic sectors and regions. The current unrestrained growth in tar sands emissions risks cancelling out any progress made in other parts of the economy.
Pledge the financing required for Canada to do its fair share to help poor countries adapt to the impacts of climate change and adopt clean energy technology.
“Rhetoric is not enough when we’re only 100 days from Copenhagen,” says Virginie Lambert Ferry of Greenpeace Canada. “To rebuild its credibility, Canada needs to come to Copenhagen having taken real and effective actions to tackle climate change.”
Given the urgency and importance of the Copenhagen climate talks, the groups call on Prime Minister Harper to attend the conference in person. This would send a tangible signal to the world that climate change is a top priority for Canada’s government.
Climate Action Network Canada - Réseau action climat Canada is a nation-wide coalition of more than 50 environmental, faith, development, labour, aboriginal, health, and youth organizations committed to making action on climate change by Canada a reality.
The organization has a busy line-up of “Countdown to Copenhagen” activities and events planned for the fall (see attached calendar for details). The Copenhagen climate talks are scheduled to run from December 7 to 18, 2009.
