| Leading Canadian humanitarian groups are calling on Prime Minister Harper to recommit unequivocally to the Kyoto Protocol to ensure that Canada does its fair share to minimize the impacts of global warming on the most vulnerable people in the developing world.
“UN reports have clearly shown that the impacts of global warming will fall disproportionately upon the poorest countries in the world by increasing the number of environmental disasters and placing at risk the health, livelihoods, and access to food and clean water of millions of already deprived people,” said A. John Watson, President-CEO of CARE Canada. “By walking away from its Kyoto commitment and delaying immediate action on climate change, the Canadian government is in fact undermining international efforts to reduce poverty, improve health and ensure environmental sustainability in poorer countries.”
The Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC), the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, CARE Canada, CUSO, Development & Peace, Mennonite Central Committee Canada, One Sky, Oxfam Canada, the United Church of Canada, USC Canada and World Vision Canada wrote to Prime Minister Harper on September 29th to demand that Canada takes all necessary actions to meet its international commitments on climate change and to assist vulnerable populations in the developing world to cope with changes that are already occurring.
The federal Environment Commissioner’s report released on September 28th clearly urged the Harper government to come up with a comprehensive, credible and clear climate change plan with short- and long-term goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, actions and announcements by the government so far suggest that the upcoming green plan will contain promises rather than real action on climate change. Humanitarian groups fear that by delaying immediate action on climate change, the federal government is putting at risk the lives of millions of people in impoverished nations and is undermining efforts to end global poverty.
Prime Minister Harper has recently said that “Canada has acted when the United Nations has asked”. The United Nations has asked that industrialized nations, like Canada, take the lead in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It has also called on countries to contribute to improving the living conditions of people in poor countries. “By walking away from the Kyoto Protocol, the government of Canada is in fact breaking both of these international commitments,” said Gerry Barr, President-CEO of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation.
Development and Peace is the official international development organization of the Catholic Church in Canada and the Canadian member of Caritas Internationalis, a network of 162 autonomous, Catholic, emergency relief, development and social service organizations working in 200 countries and territories. Last year, Development and Peace provided $18.4 million to support 309 long-term development projects and 72 emergency relief projects in the Global South.
- 30 - |
