-by Juan C. Soriano
Request from our friends from the Canadian Youth Delegation.
Please post widely! And invite everyone you know on Facebook
BREAKING: Canada was poised to be a major obstacle to negotiations by standing against the Kyoto Protocol process–but your pressure is paying off!
The Canadian delegation appears to be holding its fire on Kyoto for the time being. There is a real sense that if we can move Japan off its obstructive position on the Kyoto Protocol that Canada will follow suit.
We’re asking you to do two things: call the Prime Minister’s Office and call the Japanese Embassy in Ottawa.
Call NOW to tell the Japanese Embassy to get out of the way:
Japanese Embassy: 613-241-8541
General email: infocul@embjapan.ca
Post your message to the Japanese government: https://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/forms/comment_ssl.html
Call NOW to tell Canada to stop supporting Japan’s obstruction!
Prime Minister’s Office: (613) 992-4211
Toll Free (ask to be put through to the Prime Minister’s Office): 1 (866) 599-4999
The Situation:
While current commitments under Kyoto are nowhere near an adequate response to climate change, it is currently the only legal framework we have for a global deal. If developed nations like Canada and Japan block the Kyoto Protocol process, developing nations may walk away from the negotiations. If Kyoto continues, there is no reason that developing nations and the USA cannot also take on commitments. But without Kyoto, the entire negotiating process may be derailed: we’ll lose over ten years of hard work and will have no framework to create a legally binding deal. We’re fast approaching the time that science says we need to peak our emissions—we simply don’t have time to start from scratch.
Canada says that developing nations will not walk away from the talks because they have too much to lose—essentially saying that developed nations can hold support, such as technology transfer and adaptation financing, hostage while eroding the entire negotiating process. Yesterday, Environment Minister John Baird dismissed the central principle of developed nations’ historical responsibility for causing climate change as a “sidecar” issue. Canada is refusing to take responsibility for its contribution to climate change.
Throughout the negotiations, Japan has threatened to block the Kyoto process. We know that Japan, with Canada standing behind it, is one of the biggest obstacles to progress in these final hours. The Japanese Government is feeling the international heat, but we need to turn it up.
We need Japan to know the world is watching, and we need our government to know that by standing behind Japan they are acting directly against the desires of Canadians!
More information:
Brief on the role of Kyoto in Cancun prepared by CYD members earlier this week: http://canadianyouthdelegation.wordpress.com/2010/12/09/cyd-statement-on-the-role-of-kyoto-in-cancun/
Political Representatives and Civil Society Groups Demand Canada Support Kyoto Continuation at Cancun Climate Talks (Climate Action Network Canada press release): http://canadianyouthdelegation.wordpress.com/2010/12/09/political-representatives-and-civil-society-groups-demand-canada-support-kyoto-continuation-at-cancun-climate-talks/
Video from yesterday’s press conference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFbxL2lKF-g
Youth Call for Canadian Commitment (Canadian Youth Delegation press release):http://canadianyouthdelegation.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/call-for-commitment.pdf
Summary of what we’ve heard about Canada’s stance on Kyoto from our negotiators:
http://canadianyouthdelegation.wordpress.com/2010/12/09/roadmap-of-deflection-reconstructing-the-canadian-delegation%E2%80%99s-talking-points-part-one/
In the news:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canada-gets-ready-to-walk-away-from-kyoto-protocol/article1825976/
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/canada/Canada+tearing+heart+Kyoto+accord+environmentalists/3930662/story.html
http://www.thestar.com/news/sciencetech/environment/copenhagensummit/article/904604–climate-future-lies-with-copenhagen-deal-not-kyoto-canada-says
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/no-need-to-agree-on-kyoto-extension-yet-canadian-envoy-says/article1831219/
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-12/10/c_13642789.htm
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/baird-comes-out-swinging-at-china-at-cancun-climate-talks/article1829859/
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/China+clashes+with+Canada+climate+talks/3950057/s