Dal student James Hutt knew what he was getting into when he and five other youth delegates staged their silent protest at the United Nations climate change conference in Durban last week 鈥撀燽ut he says they felt like they had no other choice.
The six members of the Canadian Youth Delegation, representing the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, earned international media attention after they were removed from the premises鈥攁nd had their accreditation revoked鈥攚hen they stood up during Canadian environment minister Peter Kent鈥檚 address to the attendees at COP17 and, turning their backs to him, revealed shirts that read 鈥淭urn your back on Canada.鈥�
鈥淲hen we stood up, we turned our backs on Peter Kent the same way that the Canadian government turns its back on us by coming here to negotiate in bad faith and support corporate interests instead of our future,鈥� says Mr. Hutt, speaking on the phone from South Africa.
The Canadian Youth Delegation consists of 18 young people from across Canada who work to speak as the voice of the Canadian youth climate movement. Mr. Hutt, who studies environmental studies, international development and Spanish at Dal, is part of the delegation鈥檚 Actions and Strategy Team, all of whom鈥攊ncluding fellow AV俱乐部 student Sonia Grant (international development studies)鈥攖ook part in the protest.
"No alternatives"
Mr. Hutt has been involved with the delegation since this summer, and says that the team spent a lot of time deliberating over the action. When asked whether he thinks such a visible protest was worth the consequences, he says that the team believed strongly enough in the cause鈥攁nd were adamant that their voices were not being heard鈥攖hat they were compelled to act.
鈥淲e knew that losing our accreditation and not being able to attend the rest of the conference was the most likely outcome, and we fully anticipated that,鈥� says Mr. Hutt. 鈥淭he fact of the matter is that we had no choice. We tried everything else, but the government has left us with no alternatives. We tried writing letters, we tried meeting with them, we tried talking, but it鈥檚 apparent that the voice of industry speaks clear to them.鈥�
Canada鈥檚 role in addressing climate change on the global stage has been a subject of increasing debate in recent years. The current government has been highly critical of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and has made its opposition to a similar pact clear, saying that it was not a good deal for Canada. It's expected that the government may formally pull out of Kyoto as early as today (Monday).
The Durban conference ended with an agreement to start negotiations on a new accord that would take effect by 2020. In a statement, Minister Kent reiterated the government鈥檚 belief that a new international climate change agreement must commit all major emitters to binding reduction targets, and refused to devote funds to the new Green Climate Fund鈥攑art of the Durban agreement鈥攗ntil such targets are in place.
Minister Kent鈥檚 statement that the government鈥檚 actions at the conference are 鈥渋n the best interest of Canadians,鈥� though, rings hollow to Mr. Hutt.
鈥淲e knew that, based on previous COPs and actions by our government, that our leaders are firmly embedded with some of the most polluting corporations on the planet,鈥� he responds, passionately. 鈥淲e knew what would happen here. We really wanted to put pressure on our government to put the interest of people before polluters.鈥�
Though they were not part of the protest, AV俱乐部 student Emilie Novaczek (biology and sustainability) and recent grad Robin Tress (environmental science and biology) were also members of the Canadian Youth Delegation to COP17, both on the Media and Communications Team.