Opinions

 

 

 

Science Matters

An Inconvenient Truth

David Suzuki, OP Contributor

A, I cross the country I

keep coming up against two myths.
These myths aren’t perpetuated by
ordinary Canadians, but by pundits |
and politicians. It’s when I talk to real
Canadians that I realize how out-of-
touch these commentators really are.

Myth number one: Canadians aren’t
willing to accept the changes necessary
to truly address global warming (or, as
I heard someone describe it recently
global “weirding” since it doesn’t just
cause warming, but a host of other
bizarre climactic changes).

In fact, wherever I go I meet people
who are already making changes or are
eager to do so—but don’t know where
to start. So, Canadians are willing —
they’re just looking for real leadership
that will ensure that everyone does their
part fairly so it isn’t just dumped on the
average citizen.

That seems to be the biggest obstacle
for the public. People rightly want
any response to global warming to be
fair. I think that was why the federal
government’s One Tonne Challenge
never really worked out. Why — people
likely asked themselves—should I go
to the bother of figuring out how to
reduce my greenhouse gases by a tonne
(whatever that is) when industry and
government themselves don’t seem
to have a plan on how to reduce their
emissions at all?

Good question. It’s the federal
government’s job to make sure that any
national global warming plan is fair and
equitable, with no sector unduly taking
on an unfair burden. But that said,
sources of greenhouse gases are widely
known and readily measurable, so this
is relatively easy to quantify. The key is
to start making the reductions now. As ©
former Chief Economist with the World
Bank, Sir Nicholas Stern, recently said

ata news conference with me, doing so
is actually a sound economic investment
in the future. The costs of moving to
a low-carbon economy are very low
compared to dealing with a world of
unchecked global warming.

This leads me to myth number
two: the notion that it’s impossible to
meet Kyoto. I’m not sure how this one
started—likely through an industrial
lobby group—but media pundits love
it and repeat it unquestioningly. The
truth is that meeting Kyoto now, even
after years of stalling, is still readily
achievable for Canada. To start, we can
go a long way to meeting our targets
through reductions within our own
country — most of which will pay for
themselves through increased efficiency
over a few years anyway.

As for the remainder, we can
purchase international carbon credits

through the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM). This
was set up precisely to help countries
like Canada achieve our targets in

a meaningful way. Funds from the
purchase of these credits go towards
projects in developing countries

that will result in a net decrease in
greenhouse gas emissions.

Global warming is a problem
without borders, so if Canada helps
reduce heat-trapping emissions in
another part of the world, the effect is
the same. A global carbon market is an
effective economic tool to help solve a
global problem. Canada should embrace
this market. A well-regulated market
can be an extremely effective way to
help developing countries “leapfrog”
technologically and go from high-
carbon to low-carbon sources of energy.

If Canada truly embraces a low-

 

carbon future and becomes a leader in
renewable energy and energy-efficiency
technologies, international carbon
credits can also help Canada’s economy.
Developing countries have to buy
their low-carbon technologies from
somewhere. If our leaders play their
cards right, that somewhere could be
from Canadian businesses.

We mustn’t forget that Canada
made an international promise when
we signed and ratified Kyoto. We’re
bound by that commitment and we can’t
just turn our backs on it because it’s no
longer convenient. Judging from my
own experiences, I’d say Canadians
have figured this out. It’s our leaders
who are still in denial.

Follow the If YOU were Prime
Minister tour and learn more at www.
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