Canada’s Targets: X-RATED ?

If G-rated is suitable for children, Canada’s climate change plan is far from it. Up until today, Canada had committed to, and I quote “X %” of emission reductions by the year 2020. In one sarcasm-induced word: Awesome.

Mr. Michael Martin, Canada’s lead negotiator, joked at our last meeting that, “The X stands for 79.2% reductions.” Part of me wishes he hadn’t been joking. The stark reality is that Canada is suggesting that it commit to just under -2.7% below 1990 levels by 2020. To put this in perspective, that is less than half the size of our original Kyoto Protocol commitment, with triple the length of time frame.

I am unbelievably keen to read the text of the submission that Canada made to the UN Secretariat that explains why Canada thinks this target is a good idea. I certainly can’t think of a reason on my own, though I do trust that the government works in the best interest of the people, so this submission must have something solid in it to back this up. It must, right?

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1 Response to “Canada’s Targets: X-RATED ?”


  1. 1 Your Story – A Photography Exhibit at the UN in Bonn « It’s Getting Hot In Here Trackback on Jun 11th, 2009 at 11:24 am
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About Zoë


Zoë is the co-author of ''Global Warming for Dummies" written with Elizabeth May, and Editor on ItsGettingHotInHere. She is the Climate Policy & Advocacy Specialist for WWF-Canada and is on the provincial renewable energy stakeholder consultation project team in Nova Scotia. She is President on the national board of Sierra Club Canada and was a founding member of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition. Zoë attends United Nations Climate Change Conferences and was aboard the Students On Ice International Polar Year 2007 Expedition to Antarctica. She has appeared Vanity Fair and ELLE magazines for her work on climate change.

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