Inaction on climate “too dreadful to contemplate”

ListenThe Canadian government is set to “100 per cent fail” to keep even the minimal promises it made at the Copenhagen Summit to reduce greenhouse gases, says opposition Green Party Leader Elizabeth May. “It is tragic,” says May. “In global climate negotiations that I attend, nobody waits to see what Canada is going to do or say on any issue because we’re predictably going to be dreadful, and we’ve made ourselves irrelevant in terms of global negotiations.”

Scientists warn of security threats

For the first time, scientists convened by the United Nations on the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warn that if the world does nothing to mitigate the emissions of greenhouse gases and climate change continues to increase, social stability could be at stake. They warn that if warming continues there will be increased risk of violent conflicts and threats to the territorial integrity of some countries.

And the scientists warn rich countries will not be immune from upheaval. According to their projections “nobody on this planet is going to be untouched by the impacts of climate change,” said Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the IPCC.

Change already happening, say scientists

Food shortages, large migrations of people and economic shocks are listed as possible outcomes of ever-increasing temperatures and the scientists say climate change is already upon us. The report says disasters like the deadly heat waves in Europe, wildfires in the U.S., and flooding in Mozambique, Thailand and Pakistan highlight how vulnerable humanity is to extreme weather.  Its authors warn dangers will worsen as the climate changes even more.

What is Canada doing?

When asked in Parliament what the Canadian government will do in response to the IPCC report, Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq replied that “no government has done more on the environment than our government.” May was not impressed.

“The Canadian public has a right to ask, what is this government actually committed to doing other than putting out nonsense statements that say that we’re in the lead and we’re doing a lot. Where is the plan?”

May notes the government promised years five or six years ago to pass regulations on the oil and gas sector and it now says the regulations are years away. At the same time oil production is ramping up in western Canada even though extraction from oil sands emits high levels of greenhouse gases.

Canada should eliminate subsidies for fossil fuel extraction, says May. It should introduce carbon pricing, encourage green technologies and devise an energy policy committing to make “significant, drastic, and really radical” reductions in emissions.

‘Time to act’

Scientists say there is still time to act, but the time is now.

May agrees. “Delay and denial cost, because it gets harder and harder to take the actions that are required. It becomes more expensive. So if we don’t start now, when we should have started 20 years ago…we’ll be looking at triage, what can we save, where do we go, what places are beyond  being saved , where will there be large human die-offs. The downside risks of inaction are too dreadful to contemplate.”