‘Binding’ target stance isolates PM at summit; Canada, Australia at odds with rest of Commonwealth
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KAMPALA, Uganda
KAMPALA, Uganda - An increasingly isolated Canada is facing pressure at the Commonwealth summit for blocking a climate change resolution that would require developed countries to adopt a binding commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Canada and Australia are the only countries among the Commonwealth’s 53 members that oppose the wording of a climate change communique that would specify that all members support a “binding commitment” to reduce emissions by specific targets.
Commonwealth members want their summit to present a united front going into the upcoming United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change conference in Bali, Indonesia, which is trying to develop a plan to cut carbon emissions from 2012 onward.
Diplomats told CanWest News Service that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to press Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the issue as the summit continues through the weekend.
Brown favours binding commitments on industrialized countries and would like Canada to be on the same page, according to diplomats here.
Harper’s spokeswoman, Sandra Buckler, said the prime minister is presenting the same climate change position to fellow Commonwealth leaders that he has advanced at other international gatherings such as the G8 and APEC.
That includes the “importance of a long-term goal for global emissions reductions” with “flexibility to take account of national circumstances,” Buckler said in e-mail.
But representatives of other countries made it clear that Canada and Australia were at odds with the rest of the Commonwealth.
Harper has no allies at the Commonwealth because Australian Prime Minister John Howard is not in Kampala. Australians go to the polls in a national election today with Howard facing defeat. Diplomats here understand that if Howard’s opponent, Kevin Rudd, prevails, his new government would likely reverse its opposition to the Kyoto Protocol, which has not yet been ratified in Australia.
“There is a possibility that by Saturday night or Sunday morning, Canada may be the only country not happy with the word ‘binding’,” said one western diplomat attending the summit here.
As the Commonwealth leaders meeting formally opened Friday, Malta’s Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi spoke of the need to reach a consensus on climate change ahead of the crucial Bali talks.
“We must send a strong message of support to the forthcoming climate change conference in Bali,” said Gonzi, who stepped down as the Commonwealth chairman. “The challenge of climate change not only requires a united front but an unprecedented level of co-operation and firm action.”
Gonzi said a plan must be developed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent of 1990 levels by 2050.
In Ottawa, environmental groups and the opposition parties described the Harper government’s actions as backroom manoeuvring to sabotage international progress on climate change. They said it explains why Environment Minister John Baird didn’t invite them to join the Canadian government’s official delegation to the Bali summit, ending a long-standing practice that is shared by many countries on the international stage.
“What this government says on climate change and what it actually does behind the scenes are two different things,” said NDP environment critic Nathan Cullen. “This is why the minister is afraid to have us along for the negotiations in Bali because once again Canada will work behind the scenes, will water down resolutions to resist aggressive action and prevent the world from getting serious on the issue of climate change.”
environment
Filed by under The Environment, Climate Change