| Canada must meet Bonn commitments
It's amazing what 1,700 people working around the clock on a common goal can accomplish. In the case of the recent meeting in Bonn, Germany, it was an agreement on the rules for the Kyoto Protocol to reduce global warming. The results weren't perfect, but they're a crucial step forward – one that won't happen if the oil industry and the Alberta government have their way.
Representatives of 178 countries hammered out the agreement without the U.S., which dropped out of talks earlier this spring, calling the Protocol "dead." Most of the world disagreed, siding with the overwhelming scientific evidence that places global warming at the top of a list of the world's most pressing environmental problems. In fact, at a science conference in Amsterdam the previous week, 1,800 scientists released a joint declaration asking politicians to put aside their differences and make the Protocol work.
At first, Canada did the opposite, demanding that both nuclear power and a wide use of carbon "sinks" like forests and soils be included as credits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Other nations disagreed, citing safety, cost and waste problems associated with nuclear power, and the large scientific uncertainties associated with relying on carbon sinks. Although carbon sinks, like forests, do absorb carbon dioxide as they grow, they can also release it back into the atmosphere – through forest fires, for example.
During the talks, as if to hammer home the importance of reaching a deal, the journal Science published an analysis of warming projections done by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The authors found that there is a low probability that the planet's temperature will rise by either the lowest (1.4 degrees Celsius) or the highest (5.8 degrees Celsius) of the IPCC estimates. However, they concluded that there is a 90 per cent certainty that, without reducing emissions, temperatures will rise between 1.7 and 4.9 degrees Celsius this century. Such a rate of change is expected to seriously destabilize the planet's climate.
The scientific and public pressure no doubt had an effect. In the end, Canada conceded the issue of nuclear power but won the expanded use of carbon sinks. The compromises naturally left some environmental groups concerned. But the agreement is still a very important achievement because it sends a clear message to polluting industries and governments that the majority of the world is serious about reducing climate pollution.
Unfortunately, some of these governments and industries have already started a campaign of misinformation against the agreement. The Alberta government and the oil industry, for example, immediately began to make unsubstantiated claims that Canada would lose billions or even trillions of dollars because of the deal. Alberta's environment minister said that the agreement "would destroy not only the Alberta economy but the Canadian economy." This is nonsense, and equivalent to the coal industry 100 years ago saying that switching to oil would destroy the economy. In fact, it had the opposite effect. Pollution is waste, and waste is lost money. There are countless examples across Canada of individuals, businesses and municipalities increasing efficiency and saving money. It just makes sense.
It's disturbing that the government of one of the richest provinces in one of the richest nations on the planet could have the audacity to stand up on the world stage and decry the Kyoto Protocol. This agreement took years of negotiations and compromises, it's based on the best available science, and it has the support of 178 countries around the world. It is the right thing to do. If we want to give the coming generations the same opportunities that we have had, it's something we must do.
Our federal government still must ratify the Kyoto agreement for it to be binding. This week, Canada's provincial premiers will be meeting in Victoria, B.C., and later this month they will meet with the prime minister. No doubt they will be discussing the recent agreement in Bonn. We must hope that our leaders side with the vast majority of world governments and not Alberta and the U.S.
Science Matters is a regular feature by writer, geneticist and television host David Suzuki. To discuss this issue with others, visit the discussion forum at www.davidsuzuki.org. |
