Urgent Call to Canadians: Every Minute Counts

It is 4:08 am in Bali, Indonesia. There are only a few hours left in these historic climate negotiations but Canada is blocking an emerging agreement. We can’t let it happen. We need to call the Prime Minister’s Office before 6pm EST – the sooner the better.

The problem:

The talks here are stalled. In an ad-hoc working group of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, only one country is holding out against citing the 25-40% reductions (from 1990 levels) in greenhouse gases that industrialized countries need to make before 2020. That country is Canada. They are preventing inclusion of the targets that the science demands for the survival of the planet. They are watering down this potentially historic pact.

How we solve it:

The situation is critical, and it’s literally a matter of hours. The Bali agreement could be a step towards stopping dangerous climate change. But if Canada prevents strong targets from being included in the negotiations, we’ll have few concrete results from the work we have been agonizing over for two weeks. Help us get Canada to stop blocking the talks!

If we can put enough pressure on the Canadian Government Delegation here in Bali, they may just change their behaviour. They cannot get away with their tactics if they know their citizens are paying attention.

Call. It will make a real difference. It will make real action on climate change a priority for this government. We can turn the tide in Bali.

What you do:

If you can afford it, call the direct cell phone of the Prime Minister’s representative here in Bali. His name is Dimitri Soudas, and you can reach him on 011 62 85 857 032 037. He needs to hear what Canadians really think.

Or, if the long distances charges are a bit much, call the Prime Minister’s Office at 613 992 4211, and ask to be connected to Mr. Soudas, or the Prime Minister himself.

What you say:

Canada needs to stop blocking the negotiations, so the world can make real progress in Bali!

For more background information, go to www.climateactionnetwork.ca

This request is brought to you by people sitting at their computers all through the night in Bali – mostly members of the Canadian Youth Delegation (www.cydbali.org), a project of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, working alongside the Climate Action Network Canada. Please distribute widely.

About Sasha

Sasha is a member of the Canadian Youth Delegation to Bali. A Vancouver native, she is currently pursuing a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Her interests lie primarily with the intersection of transnational challenges, human rights, and international policy, with an emphasis on African affairs. Sasha has been engaged with environmental issues on many fronts, working with the Office of Sustainability Programs to draft greenhouse gas emission reduction policies for the University of New Hampshire, collaborating on sustainable development projects in West Africa, and deploying as a disaster relief worker to New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. A self-proclaimed nomad, Sasha spent the summer of 2007 leading a backpacking expedition in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

2 Responses to “Urgent Call to Canadians: Every Minute Counts”

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1 wildeyes Dec 14th, 2007 at 5:09 pm

i tried skyping the bali number (bali’s country code is +62, right?) but no one answered… it just kept ringing.
2 wildeyes Dec 14th, 2007 at 5:14 pm

left a message at the prime minister’s office… i’m not sure if anyone will get that in time.

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