Canada holding up climate-change deal at Commonwealth

Recently the Conservatives have been attempting to greenwash their image, but at the Commonwealth climate talks they have shown their true colours.

Canada is one of only two countries blocking a commitment to international climate-change targets within the 52-member Commonwealth frustrated foreign diplomats said Friday. [Australia is the other country holding up the negotiations, but Prime Minister John Howard is set to loose the upcoming election to Kevin Rudd, who has stated the tackling climate change will be his first priority]

A deal among Commonwealth members is seen as a major step toward reaching a global climate treaty next month at long-anticipated negotiations in Indonesia.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper now finds himself in the company of a few very unpopular politicians.

The Opposition Liberals poured scorn on Harper’s approach.

“He’s not a leader anywhere. What he’s doing is looking for an excuse to drag his feet,” said Liberal MP John Godfrey.

With Harper’s friend John Howard facing defeat in Australia, Canada is “in the very reduced company of (U.S. President) George Bush’s Republicans,” he said.

Climate change is a problem cause mainly by the developed world. Years of heavy emissions by industrialized countries means that even if China overtakes the US as the worlds number 1 yearly emitter (remember that they do have a MUCH larger population so their per capita emissions are still relatively small) it will still be some time before they overtake the total emissions produced by the US.

If we want to find a solution to climate change rich developed countries will have to take the first steps.

UPDATE: Canada has successfully blocked any climate change deal involving binding targets.

Commonwealth leaders agreed to a much watered-down agreement on climate change after Prime Minister Stephen Harper resisted any reference to binding targets on greenhouse gas emissions.

The agreement, announced at a news conference Saturday afternoon was a setback for other Commonwealth members, led by Britain, who had called for binding commitments for greenhouse gas reductions in the statement…

A diplomat from another Commonwealth country described Canada’s position — that there’s no deal unless everyone agrees — as a recipe for inertia on climate change.

With Australia’s climate change denying Prime Minister John Howard loosing the recent election to Kevin Rudd, who has promised that climate change will be a top priority, Stephen Harper now finds himself alone in the Commonwealth, and in the company of only a few unpopular politicians world wide.

4 thoughts on “Canada holding up climate-change deal at Commonwealth

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  1. I am puzzled by all the talk where we all take a vote and decide to make the temp of the earth 2 degrees this way or that way. It is like taking a vote if the earth is round or flat! Then they talk of “facts” and “science proves” its all just a bunch of talk. It keeps the people thinking that Government is doing something for us. People this is all smoke and mirrors. We can no more decide the temp of the world than we can vote on making the moon orbit closer or farther from earth! I have copies of National Geographic going back to the early 70’s that talk about the coming ice age, and the world is getting colder, and by the year 2000 we will be in a global ice age. Now the flavor of the day is a warmer climate. This idea that we can effect any change up or down is a “religion of climate change”. The fact is there is just as much science to show the earth is cooling not warming. All this talk keeps all of you busy with your new religion and away from the real issues like feeding the hungry people of this world, and making this planet a safer place for women and children. So keep your heads in the sand, and keep on taking about how we are going to change something we have no control over. As long as you keep doing this you can sit smugly by letting people all over the globe die of hunger, something we have the power to change. Instead of spending $$$ on climate spend it on ideas and ways to feed people. If the climate is changing, and I have not doubt that it is, lets rather take advantage of the change. If it is getting warmer here in Canada lets grow more crops and instead of buying green credits from 3rd world countries lets help them. Buying green credits just sends money to the wrong people. The emperor has new cloths. When we spend money on climate control we buy something we can’t see. This is a recipe to line the pockets of many many people who’s only wish is to gather more money for themselves. This way they will have real power over us. Thinking we can do anything real about climate change is a fools errand. What do you think? Tell me.

  2. Greg you seem very certain that climate change is all “smoke and mirrors”, yet the scientific consensus is quite clear that this is not the case. Climate experts (aka those publishing in peer-reviewed journals) seem to agree that the earth is getting warmer, that we are causing it and therefore we can do something to stop it.

    If you wont listen to scientists the who do you propose we listen to? What would convince you that climate change is real and that we are causing it?

    …the world is getting colder, and by the year 2000 we will be in a global ice age.

    While some scientists claimed that the cooling effect cooling effect of dirty air could outweigh the warming effect of CO2, potentially leading to an ice age if aerosol pollution quadrupled, it was hardly a consensus and soon afterwards it was determined that they had overestimated the cooling effect of aerosol pollution and underestimated the effect of CO2.

    Now compare that to the thousands of papers claiming that humans are causing climate change.

    As long as you keep doing this you can sit smugly by letting people all over the globe die of hunger, something we have the power to change.

    Since the experts say that humans can act to stop (or at least reduce) climate change and it is likely that the poor will suffer the most I think spending money to tackle climate change is a good investment. Of course that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work towards a solution to the other problems facing the world.

    If the climate is changing, and I have not doubt that it is, lets rather take advantage of the change.

    Wherever possible we should take advantage of climate change, but estimates of the costs far outweigh any potential benefits.

    I also agree with your statement that ‘green’ credits aren’t worth it. The credits system is rife with problems.

    Thinking we can do anything real about climate change is a fools errand.

    Again the experts seem to disagree with you and so do I

  3. Hi Dan
    Dan says; Greg you seem very certain that climate change is all “smoke and mirrors”, yet the scientific consensus is quite clear that this is not the case. Climate experts (aka those publishing in peer-reviewed journals) seem to agree that the earth is getting warmer, that we are causing it and therefore we can do something to stop it.

    Greg says; Climate change is not all “smoke and mirrors”, it’s what politicians are saying about climate change, and letting us think that we have any say in climate change that is smoke and mirrors. Taking a vote on climate change is not going to make it change.

    Dan says; If you wont listen to scientists the who do you propose we listen to? What would convince you that climate change is real and that we are causing it?

    Greg says; Oh I do listen to scientists, and I find many that don’t agree and many that say the climate is changing and there is nothing we can do about it. The sun is rising and we can’t stop it either.

    …the world is getting colder, and by the year 2000 we will be in a global ice age.

    Dan says; While some scientists claimed that the cooling effect cooling effect of dirty air could outweigh the warming effect of CO2, potentially leading to an ice age if aerosol pollution quadrupled, it was hardly a consensus and soon afterwards it was determined that they had overestimated the cooling effect of aerosol pollution and underestimated the effect of CO2.
    Now compare that to the thousands of papers claiming that humans are causing climate change.

    Greg says;I have no doubt that humans are causing climate change. Many things impact our climate. Volcano’s do more climate change in a few hours than humans can do in decades. Just because humans have an impact on our climate does not mean we have it within our power to halt that change. The only way we could affect the kind of change you are talking about would be to go back to the Stone Age.

    As long as you keep doing this you can sit smugly by letting people all over the globe die of hunger, something we have the power to change.

    Dan says; Since the experts say that humans can act to stop (or at least reduce) climate change and it is likely that the poor will suffer the most I think spending money to tackle climate change is a good investment. Of course that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work towards a solution to the other problems facing the world.

    Greg says; If the climate is changing, and I have no doubt that it is, lets rather take advantage of the change.

    Dan says; Wherever possible we should take advantage of climate change, but estimates of the costs far outweigh any potential benefits.
    I also agree with your statement that ‘green’ credits aren’t worth it. The credits system is rife with problems.
    Thinking we can do anything real about climate change is a fools errand.

    Dan says; Again the experts seem to disagree with you and so do I

    Greg says; Again I can find just as many experts that agree with my view of climate change.

    2007-12-04 I think I like Dan’s Blog. I found Dan interesting and intelligent though misguided. I stumbled upon Dan’s Blog yesterday. It is interesting to find people out there that are willing to give tons of money to an invisible cause. The average Joe cannot see any difference in our climate. Most people would say that it snows more and our winters are colder. Yet here we are willing to give billions of tax dollars to an invisible thing they call climate change. Oh yes Canada could do much in the way of reducing our green house gas emissions but if other countries do not then we will find ourselves at a very real disadvantage in the global economy. Then some other country could take us over. Once taken over the new regime could run things very differently from the Canada we know now and we are back to doing poorly in the area of green house gas emissions but with new masters. Do you get the picture?
    Your thoughts?

  4. Again I can find just as many experts that agree with my view of climate change.

    Are these experts publishing their work in peer-reviewed journals? If they aren’t they really aren’t experts and aren’t part of the scientific debate.

    The peer-reviewed literature has been very clear on this for a while now. The earth is warming and we are the cause. The media, and special interest groups may paint a different picture, but the science is clear.

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