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Montreal, November 8, 2011 – Equiterre is unimpressed with federal Environment Minister Peter Kent's attempt to obscure the news that Canada will not participate in the second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol by announcing a $148 million investment in climate change adaptation.
"The Harper government displayed a very hypocritical attitude today by announcing an investment in adaptation to impacts of climate change while refusing to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions," says Steven Guilbeault, deputy executive director of Equiterre.
In any case, the amounts announced today by the environment minister are insignificant. The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy estimates that the annual costs of climate change will be about $5 billion in 2020 and between $21 and $43 billion in 2050.
"Quebec has already invested nearly $100 million to adapt to climate change over the past five years, and that was only for the province. So imagine what the federal government should have been doing at the same time, and just how much it will have to do in the future," explains Guilbeault.
Far from helping the international community address climate change, as it claims, the federal government systematically undermines the clean energy policies of other countries to promote the interests of Canadian oil companies. In fact, Prime Minister Harper is leading the lobby against the European Union's Fuel Quality Directive, a policy that aims to reduce Europe's greenhouse gas emissions from transportation by 6% by 2020. The directive includes a science-based clause recognizing the higher carbon intensity of oil from tar sands. This directive will be voted on in the coming weeks.
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Source
Émilie Vallières
(514) 605-2000
