Moving forward on the Kyoto Protocol?

This week, UN Climate Change meetings in Nairobi are wrapping up. Although there's been progress on some issues, like funding for projects to help developing countries adapt to climate change, things aren't moving along as quickly as many people had hoped. It seems like many countries are sticking to their "party lines" rather than focusing on the Convention's overall goal: stopping the threat of dangerous climate change.


In our own back yard, the Canadian government's performance at these important meetings is absolutely embarassing. Canadian delegates have blocked motions to transfer cleaner technology to developing countries, refused to meet Kyoto targets, withdrawn funding for sustainable development projects, and supported proposals that they knew absolutely nothing about. Considering that more Canadians rank the environment as their number one concern than anything else (yes, even more than health care!), this abysmal performance definitely isn't in Canadians' best interests. I mean, even the majority of Albertans would be open to a carbon tax!

Kofi Annan opened high-level discussions today with a great speech, drawing strong links between vulnerability to climate change, poverty and sustainable development. He reminded government ministers and negotiators that this is not just an environmental issue - a changing global climate affects many other important areas, like human health, water and agriculture. As he so aptly remarked, “Global climate change must take its place alongside the threats of conflict, poverty and the proliferation of deadly weapons that have traditionally monopolized first-order political attention.”

As this year's round of talks draws to a close I, along with thousands of others worldwide, hope that countries will be able to set aside their differences at these negotiations and focus on the common end goal: creating a future that we'll all want to take part in.