Notes for an Address by
Hon. John Baird, P.C., M.P.
Minister of the Environment
United Nations Climate Change Conference
Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia
December 13, 2007
Check Against Delivery
Thank you Mr. President.
Fellow Ministers and delegates, as all of
you would know, few global challenges provoke
opinions like climate change does.
This is because climate change is the leading
environmental issue of our time.
The Government of Canada agrees with United
Nations Secretary General who called it "the
defining challenge of our age".
Few, particularly among those here in Indonesia
this week, would disagree.
Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper,
has said that "inaction on the environment
heralds consequences that are beyond contemplation."
Others have echoed these positions, but few
have put it as clearly and concisely as the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
whose fourth report forcefully presents the
overwhelming body of evidence on the existence,
nature and severity of global climate change.
Canada supports that assessment wholeheartedly.
Let me be clear. Canada is determined to
honour our commitments
Our mandatory reduction targets for all industries
that produce greenhouse gases and air pollution
are based on where we stand today, and on
the unique circumstances that define who we
are as Canadians and how we live and work.
Combined with our new clean energy and cleaner
transportation initiatives, as well as actions
taken by our provinces, our regulations will
reduce Canada's greenhouse gas emissions an
absolute 20% from current levels by 2020.
But we know more needs to be done.
In fact, we are joined here today by my colleagues
from Ontario, Quebec and Alberta who are committed
to implement the major part of our obligations.
We believe our plan will drive investment
in the technologies that are needed to achieve
deep reductions in emissions.
It features continuous improvement in emissions
performance by regulated industry.
And, it offers the co-benefit of reductions
in air pollutants that affect the health of
our citizens.
At the same time, we recognize that adaptation
to a changing climate is important for our
citizens. Canada is a vast northern nation,
with natural treasures spread out from coast
to coast to coast.
We have already seen the impacts of climate
change in the north with melting permafrost,
schools shifting off foundations, and the
spread of the pine beetle. We too are impacted
by a changing climate.
Of course, we understand that there is no
one-size fits all approach, that national
circumstances must be taken into account,
and that climate change cannot be fought through
a cookie-cutter approach.
That is why Canada supports "common
but differentiated" responsibilities.
Any long-term agreement on climate change
should be flexible, allowing for all countries
to choose the tools and policies that suit
their own individual realities.
But - and this is critical - the framework
must also include some absolutes.
These include:
First, there should be a long-term focus
that sets the scale and timing of global emissions
reductions through to 2050, during which time
we should aim to cut emissions in half. That
long-term focus should drive medium term targets.
Second, we must engage all major emitting
countries, with appropriate levels of ambition
and timetables in an new binding agreement.
The current obligations of industrialized
Annex I countries should be expanded through:
Deepened commitments by all industrialized
countries, and
Commitments by developing countries that are
major emitters to increase their use of cleaner
technologies to limit, and then stabilize
emissions growth.
Third, it must be realistic, balancing environmental
protection and economic prosperity, and not
unduly burden any single country;
And finally, it should support the development
and deployment of new and better technologies.
Canada has come to Indonesia prepared to
do whatever is necessary to ensure that the
objectives set out by the Executive Secretary
of the UNFCCC are met:
Agreement to launch a new round of negotiations;
Agreement on the building blocks of a post
2012 framework; and
Agreement to complete negotiations in 2009.
We share these goals.
Honourable delegates, the world has an opportunity
to set ourselves on the right course - an
opportunity to launch a new negotiation process
that will bring us closer to achieving the
goals of the world community.
Let me be clear about our commitment.
Canada is committed to the United Nations'
process and these discussions.
Canada is committed to developing a new international
framework, driven by the science.
Canada is committed to action.
We can and will get to our goals, on the
strength of collaborative international efforts,
unprecedented global resolve; and with an
understanding that difficult decisions await
us and that compromise must figure in our
discussions.
Let us agree to put the greater good ahead
of our individual needs and work together
to reach a consensus for the future of our
planet.
Thank you. Thanks very much
