The Copenhagen summit starting Dec. 7, 2009 is a chance to negotiate a new international treaty addressing climate change, columnist Simon Jackson for CBC News reported Oct. 19.
According to Jackson, the Copenhagen treaty is poised to effect more change than did the Kyoto Protocol given the rise in public for environmental issues in the “new, post-Inconvenient Truth world.”
Jackson counters the perception that Canada is the least climate-friendly G8 country and dismisses suggestions that our country lacks a climate change action plan—or any interest in creating one.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has left skepticism behind and changed his tune on climate change issues, Jackson argues, adding that despite more immediate concerns like the economic recession, focusing on climate change will likely give the Tories an electoral advantage.
It’s ambitious to think pithy emissions reduction slogans like Harper’s “50 per cent by 2050” will work.
The climate change we’re witnessing is a result of emissions released since the Industrial Revolution, and it’s unlikely we’ll see any major results of emissions-curbing behaviours during our lifetime.
But just because we won’t be around to reap the rewards doesn’t mean we shouldn’t put in the work now for a healthier planet.
It’s refreshing that environmental activism isn’t a concern exclusive to Left-Wing groups anymore—it has become everyone’s issue.
For politicians whose electoral success hinges on relatively short-term solutions, planning several generations into the future for climate change presents a new kind of challenge.
It’s unclear if Harper is coming around on climate change for the right reasons, but it’s still a positive shift.
Copenhagen’s value lies in bringing representatives from industrial and developing nations together.
It’s important to emphasize the environment’s importance to developing nations who see emissions-heavy industrialization as necessary. But it’s too easy to make these nations the scapegoat for a problem whose solutions rest with everyone.
Drastic changes are needed to stop the increase in global emissions, and it’s unlikely change will happen quickly. But Jackson’s view that perceptions can change is refreshing.
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