It’s Getting Hot In Here

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.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday December 11, 2007
NUSA DUA, INDONESIA-

A United Nations audience was left in a lurch during a Tuesday evening event hosted by the Canadian government at the ongoing UN climate talks in Bali, Indonesia.

Youth delegates joined a large audience anxiously awaiting the Minister of the Environment’s address on the Canadian climate change plan. To the dismay of all in attendance, no delegates from Canada’s government came to present the policy, and the audience was instead left to listen as Canadian industry representatives showcased new “clean” technologies.

The audience was only informed during the event that the Minister would not be speaking about his highly touted ‘Turning the Corner’ plan. “The side event was publicized as being a presentation of their policies, but nobody talked about this at all. Not the Minister or a representative,” said Genevieve Gilbert, 22 from Ottawa.

The industry panel presenters were forced to field questions, and had to attempt to explain the Ministers’ absence. One presenter later expressed that he “felt hung out to dry.”

According to Adrianna Hoogenboom, 23, from Ottawa, “Baird arrived in flip flops, surveyed the room quickly and left after his handlers berated the conference staff for the quality of the sound system.”

Katrina Genuis, age 18, from Edmonton said, “I came to engage with my government and they did not have the courage to present their plan and justify it, I found it disrespectful to the UN audience as well as to the presenters.’

Sentiments following the meeting echoed this frustration, and comments overheard included, “I am not even Canadian and I find this embarrassing.”

Although the overall message of the Canadian government has been disappointing, youth will seize the opportunity to hold their government accountable. “Youth will be stepping up our actions during these last three days of the conference. Canadians have a right to know about their government’s dismal performance in Bali,” summarized Rosa Kouri, 24 from Saskatoon.

Contact info:www.cydbali.org e-mail: media@cydbali.orgMedia phone: +62 (0) 81337949749

If you’re a Canadian waiting for your government to show leadership on climate change, don’t hold your breath.

In the opening days of the UN negotiations here in Bali, Canada submitted a written statement outlining a worrisome wish-list for the international climate treaty that will succeed the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.

The Canadian contribution to the negotiations may appear to be constructive on the surface, but a basic analysis reveals implications that are as controversial as they are troubling. Canada calls for a post-Kyoto treaty that will:

• “Balance environmental protection and economic prosperity, be economically realistic, and not unduly burden the growth of any single country”

Aha. We’ve heard this one before: The Economy versus Environment debate. But what exactly does it mean to be economically realistic? And why does Canada insist on presenting environmental sustainability and economic prosperity as mutual exclusivities? Is it really a zero sum game, where any efforts to address climate change must come at the cost of our economy? Even prominent economists argue that the worst possible prescription for our economy would be inaction on climate change.

• “Have a long-term focus - a new international framework must set the scale and timing of global emission reduction through to 2050. Canada believes we should aim to cut emissions by half over this period”

Cutting emissions is key, explicit timelines are essential, but there are several ingredients conspicuously absent from this recipe. First of all, who is the we? Canada? Industrialized countries? The international community? Oh, and what baseline levels are we using when “we” cut emissions by 50%? Let me guess, Canada is referring to 50% below 2006 emissions levels by 2050, even though the IPCC has clearly called for 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. Yeah… Nice try.

Continue reading ‘BaliBuzz: Canada In Bali: Futile Climate Policy Debunked’

After many months of anticipation, the United Nations climate change negotiations are finally underway in Bali, Indonesia.

The meeting opened yesterday with a formal plenary, along with a parallel flurry of press conferences, side events, exhibitions, and creative advocacy efforts. The energy at Bali is palpable, and the mounting momentum is a testament to the significance of this conference.

UN climate bigwig Yvo de Boer- formally, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, set the tone for the process in his statements:

To the dismay of many of us here in Bali, de Boer’s message was punctuated with a reference to the permanence of fossil fuels. And so begin the negotiations, the skillful weaving of a web of interests and rhetoric. But we’ve all come to Bali for a breakthrough, not for business as usual or lip service.

Is a climate regime that caters to the fossil fuel industry really the best we can do?