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| Dal student Emily Rideout attended the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Poznan, Poland. (Danny Abriel Photo) |
You can鈥檛 check it off on the website, but Emily Rideout wants Dal students, faculty and staff to make writing a letter to their elected representatives鈥攎unicipal, provincial and聽federal鈥攖heir 鈥渁ct of green.鈥�
鈥淲riting a letter seems like kind of a boring thing to do but I think people underestimate the power of communicating with our representatives,鈥� says Ms. Rideout, who attended , in mid December. 鈥淐anadians need to pressure the government. The government needs to know we want strong action and constructive policies on climate change.鈥�
A third-year student at AV俱乐部 majoring in environmental science and international development, Ms. Rideout attended the conference as a representative of the . She was dismayed, even embarrassed, by the stance of the Canadian delegation, which she characterizes as 鈥渙bstructive.鈥�
The conference at Pozna? is regarded as an important half-way mark in the negotiating process leading up to Copenhagen in 2009. Parties have agreed that in Copenhagen, an ambitious climate change deal must be clinched to follow on the first phase of the UN鈥檚 Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
But Canada, a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, appears to be falling ever further behind on its resolve. While European countries called for a 20 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases below 1990 levels by 2020, Canada said it needed to change its baseline year to 2006 The Canadian delegation also cited 鈥渘ational circumstances鈥� to justify its poor performance in fighting greenhouse gas emissions by noting that the country is 鈥渓arge and cold and its cities are far apart.鈥�
鈥淏ut as far as I know, Canada is not any larger or colder than it was in 2002 when Canada ratified Kyoto,鈥� says Ms. Rideout.聽 鈥淚n fact, temperatures have increased, due to something called global warming.鈥�
She was also infuriated to hear the excuse that 鈥淐anadians want to consume fossil fuels 鈥� the government can鈥檛 make reductions because Canadians won鈥檛 have it.鈥�
It鈥檚 not only Ms. Rideout who was disappointed with Canada鈥檚 position; people around the world have noticed the lack of action on climate change.
Coinciding with the UN conference, the was released by the social advocacy group Germanwatch. The index, which ranks 57 industrialized countries and emerging economies, concluded that no country was doing enough to prevent average global temperatures from rising beyond two degrees Celsius鈥攃onsidered to be a dangerous tipping point. Canada hovered at the bottom of the annual ranking; only Saudi Arabia鈥檚 climate change plan was worse.
Furthermore, Canada won 10 tongue-in-cheek "" awards during the two-week conference for being the country that did the most to block progress on a climate deal. This was enough to earn country the overall top prize, the 鈥淐olossal Fossil.鈥� The dubious distinctions came from Climate Action Network International, a group that includes more than 400 non-governmental organizations.
鈥淭o tell you the truth, I felt awful that this is a position my government has taken on my behalf,鈥� says Ms. Rideout, a member of , a student society that aims to create a culture of sustainability at AV俱乐部. 鈥淚 feel it鈥檚 absolutely inappropriate to do so little on such as urgent issue that concerns us all. They certainly don鈥檛 represent my views and I don鈥檛 think I鈥檓 alone in that.鈥�
And that鈥檚 why she鈥檚 advocating that Canadians get out pen and paper and let their governments know how they feel: 鈥淐limate change is urgent. Canada needs to get its butt in gear and come to Copenhagen ready to move forward.鈥�