How low can the Harper Conservative government go when it comes to hurting the environment? Here are the latest steps backward. They are not good for the planet.
The 2014 Climate Change Performance Index was just released in Europe to coincide with COP 19. Canada’s performance is again abysmal. Our country ranked 58th out of 61 countries assessed on their efforts to address climate change. Canada is the lowest-ranked industrialized country in the world. Denmark and the United Kingdom top the list, with only Iran, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia ranked worse than Canada.
Likewise, a new study on countries’ commitment to development and environmental policies by the Washington-based Centre for Global Development placed Canada in last place on environmental performance among 27 wealthy nations.
Add to this that the Harper Conservative government recently came out in favour of regressive climate change action, and it’s clear Canada under Harper is at the back of the pack when it comes to progress on climate change and, more generally, environmental issues.
The Prime Minister’s Parliamentary Secretary recently issued a statement that “applauds the decision by (Australian) Prime Minister Abbott to introduce legislation to repeal Australia’s carbon tax”. There has been little progress so far at the two-week United Nations Conference of the Parties on climate change (COP 19) meeting in Poland.
Progressive governments, labour activists and environmentalists are calling for meaningful movement on issues such as equity, by, for example, recognizing that climate change is enhancing socio-economic disparity and disproportionately affecting the most disadvantaged countries in the world. Meanwhile, the Philippines’ chief climate negotiator – Naderev Sano – has been on a hunger strike in Poland, in an attempt to encourage real movement at the talks. Most science-based views assert that Typhoon Haiyan was made worse by warmer ocean temperatures caused by climate change.
Germanwatch report here: http://germanwatch.org/en/7704
Centre for Global Development’s report details on the study here: http://www.cgdev.org/publication/commitment-development-index-2013