Canada wins ‘Lifetime Unachievement’ Fossil award at Warsaw climate talks

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Canada wins ‘Lifetime Unachievement’ Fossil award at Warsaw climate talks

WARSAW, Poland, November 22, 2013 – Canada was dishonoured with an inauspicious ‘Lifetime Unachievement’ Fossil award this evening during the final official day of the UN climate negotiations. Granted as part of the long-running satirical Fossil of the Day / Fossil of the Year awards series, the special prize was given to point to the Harper government’s longstanding failure to make meaningful contributions and instead resort to blocking and stalling progress at the UN climate talks.

“After winning the Colossal Fossil award – given to the country doing the most damage to climate talks in a given year – five years in a row, Canada is in a league of its own for its total lack of credibility on climate action,” said Christian Holz, Executive Director of Climate Action Network Canada. “The utter lack of a credible climate policy plan on the part of the Harper government has gone a long way towards undermining Canada’s standing in the world, even as a clear majority of Canadian citizens seek action and leadership on climate change.”

Today’s award was the second unique Fossil prize handed to Canada since the start of this year’s climate talks. During the session’s opening week, Canada was granted a first-ever ‘Fossil of Disbelief’ for the Harper government’s public support of Australia’s proposed climate legislation repeal.

“When handing Canada the Colossal Fossil last year we pointed to the unfair advantage in this competition that the carbon doping of the tar sands is providing for Canada since the Harper government’s tar sands addiction determines its abysmal approach to climate policy. Indeed, at this conference, when Canada did receive a fossil award, an entirely new category of fossil had to be created to capture the outrageousness; indicating that the country is still refusing to bow out gracefully into the irrelevance that comes with being an historic climate laggard.”

“Canada wants to take credit for provincial emission reduction actions, as in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia. But the federal government lacks the courage to use the effective means the provinces have put in place to diminish their greenhouse gas emissions, like carbon taxes or carbon markets,” said Alain Brunel, Director of Energy and Climate for l’Association Québécoise de Lutte contre la Pollution Atmosphérique (AQLPA). “Worse, Canada has the arrogance to applaud Australia – right in the middle of a climate conference – for trying to abolish its own carbon tax. The Harper government’s climate change policy is totally incoherent, and that’s why it hasn’t achieved and will not achieve its intended results. The federal government is scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of its international credibility,” added Brunel.

“Canada’s record is indeed one of continued failure on climate,” said Holz. “Having abandoned its Kyoto target a long time ago, it holds the questionable distinction to be the only country in the world to withdraw from the Protocol. The Harper government also made Canada the only country that lowered its ambition in the lead up to the Copenhagen COP but nonetheless is far from getting even close to meet even that meager target.”

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Link to Climate Action Network International press release: http://climatenetwork.org/fossil-of-the-day/colossal-fossil-australias-new-government

For more information, contact:
Dr. Christian Holz, Executive Director
Climate Action Network Canada – Réseau action climat Canada
Email: cholz@climateactionnetwork.ca
Toll Free: +1 855 CLIM NET (254 6638) ext. 24
Local phone in Warsaw: +48 795 665 642

About:

Climate Action Network Canada – Réseau action climat Canada:
Climate Action Network Canada – Réseau action climat Canada (CAN-Rac) is the Canadian node of Climate Action Network International. CAN-Rac is a national network comprised of over 90 member organizations from across the country, representing aboriginal, faith-based, labour and environmental NGOs. CAN-Rac is the only organization in the country with a mandate to promote the climate movement as a whole, rather than the interests and programs of any one organization.

AQLPA:
AQLPA is one of the oldest and largest environmental groups in Quebec. Founded in 1982 to fight against acid rain, AQLPA expanded its mandate in 1992 to fight against all forms of air pollution. Its president, André Bélisle, has received several awards in recognition of the work done by the Association.

Climate Action Network International:
Climate Action Network International (CAN) is a worldwide network of over 850 Non-Governmental Organizations in more than 100 countries, working to promote government and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels.

About Fossil of the Day awards:
The Fossil of the Day is a long-standing tradition in the UN climate talks and is voted on and awarded by Climate Action Network International, an international network of over 850 civil society organizations. It is presented daily to the country or countries that do the most to undermine global negotiations to address climate change. The Fossil of the Day awards were first presented at the climate talks in 1999 in Bonn, initiated by the German NGO Forum.