Canada wins yet another fossil

It has been a tough two days for Canada. With hoax press releases and leaked federal cabinet documents that suggest Canada is abandoning its own plan to meet GHG cuts in favour of an even weaker one, Canada has won its 7th fossil of the day award, placing it in the lead over all other countries.

This “prize”, given to countries who are blocking progress at the United Nations climate summit, is awarded daily by a coalition of 400 leading international NGOs. Canada won the prize today for apparent leaked cabinet documents from Environment Minister Jim Prentice, that show Canada did not intend to meet its 2020 emissions reduction target.

“The government is lying to Canadians, to negotiators and to the rest of the world,” says Graham Saul from Climate Action Network Canada.
 
“This government has seldom filled us with hope, but even we expected better than this. It’s time to start writing climate policy for Canadians and the world, not for the tar sands” he said.

Canadian youth action outside Canadian delegation office

 

 

United States wins first fossil

FIRST PLACE: UNITED STATES of AMERICA

The United States has won its first Fossil of the Day at the Copenhagen negotiations for two reasons. One, for making no commitment on long-term financing for developing countries to cope with the impacts of climate change, and also, because the US has among the weakest mid-term emissions of any major developed country, 4% below 1990 levels by 2020 (though still higher than Canada)

SECOND PLACE: EUROPEAN UNION

The EU wins the second-place fossil for failing to address a gaping loophole that undermines its targets: hot air and forest management. "Allowing full carry-over past 2012 of Europe's hot air-that is, targets based on 1990 levels that in fact allow huge increases in emissions - could allow 11 gigatonnes of carbon emissions," says the press release.

THIRD PLACE: CANADA and SAUDI ARABIA

Saudi Arabia and Canada receive the third place fossil of the day for their respective last and second-last finish in the Climate Change Performance Index released today by Germanwatch and Climate Action Network Europe. The Index evaluates 57 industrial and developing countries who release 90% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions..

The Hoax: a "childish" prank, or brilliant media stunt?

Breaking news from Copenhagen: Canada becomes a leader on climate change?

I'm afraid not.

In the span of a couple of hours, the biggest news coming out of the Copenhagen negotiations was that Canada was going to drastically change its position on climate change, and commit to a 40% cut from 1990 levels, leaving everyone in shock, even the negotiators themselves.

The Canadian government it seems, became a victim of the a well-orchestrated Yes Men stunt, involving a fake press release, website and Jim Prentice twitter account. Read the Star article about it here.

The Yes Men, a known group of political and business pranksters is said to have organized the stunt. The stunt was so elaborate, that it even had delegates in Copenhagen scratching their heads trying to discern truth from fiction.

The purpose of today's hoax was to clearly highlight Canada's unambitious targets that it has held onto for two years with no concrete plan to achieve them and the "non-negotiating" role it has been taking during the Copenhagen negotiations.

So was the stunt a success, despite Dimitri Soudas, spokesperson for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, calling it "childish"? I would say resoundingly, it was.

Currently the story is on the front page of all the major Canadian news websites, including the Toronto Star, CBC, Canadian Press and the Globe and Mail, and will surely hit the papers tomorrow. But most importantly, it has pushed the Canadian government to defend its climate policy. Though the stunt has given Canada the opportunity to reiterate its line in the media that it is being 'constructive', it has sparked dialogue both within Canada and amongst international delegates in Copenhagen about looking closer at Canada's real position on climate change, which is certainly not something to brag about.

In fact, many delegates and NGOs through mechanisms such as the Fossil of the Day have been trying to highlight that Canada is really not punching its weight on the international stage and this action only served to do it again on a much larger, much more effective stage.

Furthermore, and maybe more importantly, the effect of the stunt has given Canadians a taste of what Canada's climate policies can be, instead of holding the reputation of the international pariah the country has acquired at these negotiations.

Potential draw backs? Pushing Canada into a corner to vigorously defend its weak targets in response to the stunt might make them even less likely to warm up to the idea of pushing for ambitious targets and comprehensive planning to achieve those targets, and deal with such sticky issues as the tar sands.

The lasting effects of this over the next few days, especially concerning Canada's position in Copenhagen remains unclear. What remains clear now though, is that many more Canadians, and certainly many delegates here after the Germanwatch report (which ranked Canada 56/57 countries on climate action just ahead of Saudi Arabia), are now waking up to the fact that Canada is flagrantly lacking an effective climate policy, and that Canada' international reputation is certainly taking a hit.

Canadian in Copenhagen Profile

Periodically the blog will feature the voices of other Canadians who have traveled to Copenhagen for the UN negotiations. 

Today's profile: James Kuptana (Northwest Territories) and Noor Johnson (Montreal), Inuit Circumpolar Council of Canada

Why are you here in Copenhagen for the UN negotiations on climate change?

James: "I'd like to make a difference, and to get the Inuit voice of climate change effects out to more people. There is a misconception of the Inuit livelihood, especially in the face of climate change. A lot of people still see the comic strip image of the Inuit as 'eskimos'. We have a mix of traditional livelihood and a modern lifestyle"

Noor: "The ICC's role in coming to COP15 is to bring a particular perspective to the negotiating process. If we weren't here, there would be no chance of being part of the process, especially for the Inuit who live in a part of the world seeing the fastest change, and its already impacting people."

You asked Michael Martin, Canada's chief negotiator, a question today on including the language of ice and snow in the negotiating text. Why?

Noor: "The important outcome of the negotiation is 'what's the text', it's all about the text. To have an impact, we need to get language into the text to support our position. In the current shared vision text, why does it leave out the arctic? It includes other ecosystems, but it doesn't include the arctic.
It's a Canada-wide problem, and the whole world is impacted by what's happening to the arctic."

The proposed text would read (with emphasis on the bold)

Amend Paragraph 6 of Shared Vision draft text of Dec 9

Recognizing further that low-lying and other small island countries, countries with low lying coastal, arid and semi-arid areas, areas dependent on ice and snow, or areas liable to floods, drought and desertification and developing countries with fragile mountainous ecosystems, and those segments of hte population that have contributed least to climate change and that are already vulnerable situations, owing to factors such as poverty, gender, age, indigenous or minority status, or disability, are particular vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

What was Michael Martin's response?

"We hoped for support. My understanding is that they are not willing to at this moment insert language on behalf of any interest group. But this is not a special interest position, it is benefiting all Canadians."

Developing nations walk out of negotiations

For the third time during the negotiations, the discussions have been suspended after developing nations walk out of negotiations en masse today. 

The G77, a group which represents 130 developing countries, walked out due to concerns about the existing Kyoto Protocol will be abandoned in favour of a brand new treaty.

A plenary sessions for all countries has not started because of the breakdown.

Jeremy Hobbs, Executive Director of Oxfam put out this statement:

Africa has pulled the emergency cord to avoid a train crash at the end of the week. Poor countries want to see an outcome which guarantees sharp emissions reductions yet rich countries are trying to delay discussions on the only mechanism we have to deliver this - the Kyoto Protocol.

This not about blocking the talks - it is about whether rich countries are
ready to guarantee action on climate change and the survival or people in
Africa and across the world.

"Australia and Japan are crying foul while blocking movement on legally
binding emissions reductions for rich countries. This tit for tat approach
is no way to deal with the climate crisis."

African countries have refused to continue negotiations unless talks on a
second commitment period to the Kyoto Protocol are prioritized ahead of
broader discussions under a second LCA track. Australia, Japan and others
have succeeded in stopping Kyoto Protocol discussions as a result. Of the
two tracks of negotiations underway in Copenhagen the Kyoto Protocol is the
only one which includes a mechanism for legally binding emissions
reductions by rich countries.

Follow the latest on the status of the negotiations on Twitter.

Canada next to last in climate change performance index

Some bad news for the Canadian government as they enter the last week of negotiations at the UN summit in Copenhagen...

Germanwatch has released its annual Climate Change Performance Index, and Canada once again finished 56th place out of 57 countries evaluated. The 57th country? Saudi Arabia.

 “Canada’s performance is the worst in the industrialized world — a result of its high emissions, its lack of national policies capable of substantially cutting those emissions, and its unconstructive role to date in international negotiations. Among the world’s major emitters, only Saudi Arabia is performing worse," said Matthew Bramley, Director of the Pembina Institute’s Climate Change Program.

The Climate Change Performance Index is based 50% on a country’s emissions trends, 30% on its emissions level relative to population, and 20% on its national and international policies on climate change.

Prentice spotted, not talking

A Canadian youth delegate Rhiya Trivedi spotted Environment Minister Jim Prentice walking towards a plenary session at the Bella Centre. She tried to go up to him to ask him a question, but was physically barred by security from even getting close to him.

I don't know about you, but getting access to our publicly elected officials seems to be a part of my definition of democracy...

Photo of the Day

A young girl stands in front of sign that reads "There is no planet B" at yesterday's climate rallies in Copenhagen (Photo credit to Yvonne Su)

Miller marches with Canadian youth in Copenhagen

Mayor David Miller took part in the large march for climate action in Copenhagen on Saturday, marching in solidarity with Canadian youth.

Below is his twitpic picture posted on his account yesterday.