British PM Snubs Canada On Climate

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown highlighted the growing chasm between Canada and other countries over climate action in his pre-Summit press conference this week.

In contrast to praise for countries like the United States, Brazil and Australia, Brown opted for a Churchillian silence about Canada’s role in the world, reports The Globe’s Doug Saunders: :

The interview made it strikingly apparent how far out of step Mr. Harper’s government has fallen from Western European and U.S. views, especially on climate change and international aid….

On climate change, where most Western countries are trying to reach an agreement in time for a major world summit in Copenhagen in December, the energetic dialogue is also swirling around a gaping Canadian silence.

A study by the insurance company Allianz and the World Wildlife Fund this week listed Canada as the bottom-ranking G8 country for climate-change efforts, with one of the world’s highest rates of per-capita carbon emissions and an inadequate scheme to counter them.

And Mr. Obama signalled this week that the United States would likely agree to a push to set policies to limit global atmospheric temperature increases to two degrees above preindustrial temperatures, regardless of the cost. Canada, Russia and Japan have not indicated they will follow suit….

“I hope over the next six months we will be able to get an agreement, not just on long-term targets for cutting carbon emissions … we’ve got to get an agreement on intermediate targets, and we’ve also got to get an agreement on finance – we have to finance energy changes, more efficient use of energy in emerging markets,” Mr. Brown said, proposing that 10 per cent of foreign-aid spending go to environmental technology, in what he described as “quite a substantial transfer of resources to the poorest countries.”

In a sign of the lack of co-operation between Britain and Canada on these matters, Mr. Brown took time in the interview to single out for lengthy praise Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Mr. Obama for their climate and development initiatives, while avoiding mention of Canada even when asked directly about its policies.

European and Canadian officials said there has been little dialogue between Ottawa and the other G8 capitals on climate or aid issues.  Link

Brown’s snub comes on the heels of a string of international criticism of Canada for inaction at home and obstruction in the international arena.

Meanwhile, Canada’s most informed pundits are watching in dismay as Canada falls behind on carbon reductions and in the global race to build a clean energy economy.

Jeffrey Simpson:

On climate change, Ottawa’s still emitting hot air

Last, dead last. That’s where Canada stands among the G8 when it comes to climate-change policies.

In fairness, Russia gets a slightly better mark – finishing seventh – in the study by the World Wildlife Federation and the German-based insurance company Allianz only because it gets credit for the emissions that disappeared when the Soviet Union evaporated. So Canada should really rank seventh out of eight. So let’s hear it for Canada: “We’re No. 7″

Canada’s emissions have risen faster than those of any industrialized country since the Kyoto Protocol was ratified. At Kyoto, Canada pledged to reduce emissions by 6 per cent from 1990 levels. Instead, they have increased by 26 per cent.

Germany, Britain and France, by contrast, have met or exceeded their Kyoto-reduction targets, although Japan and Italy have not. (The U.S. did not sign the pact; its emissions have risen slightly less rapidly than Canada’s.) Not surprisingly, Germany, Britain and France rank first, second and third in the WWF/Allianz rankings.

Okay, so that was the past. What about the future? Can Canada rise up the ranks? Not with current policies, although Prime Minister Stephen Harper undoubtedly will assert the contrary when he addresses the issue at this week’s G8 summit in Italy.

Various provinces are taking action. British Columbia has its carbon tax. Quebec has ambitious targets. Manitoba has reduced emissions. Ontario is phasing out, or so it says, coal-fired plants…. Link

Susan Riley:

Canada blows post-oil economic opportunities

There was a time when politicians claimed Canada would become a world leader in clean, green technologies — that our educated workforce, abundant resources and entrepreneurial spirit, coupled with inspired government policy, would revitalize our economy and help save the planet.

No one talks that way anymore. How could they, with straight faces? We have ceded leadership on climate change to U.S. President Barack Obama and, to a lesser extent, the Europeans. Other countries will profit from the inevitable revolution in manufacturing, energy production and lifestyle choices that a green economy will bring. Not Canada.

We’ll tag along, buying products designed and manufactured elsewhere. If, that is, we can afford them. Link