Canada: An ecological scofflaw?
Oct. 17, 2006. 01:00 AM
DAVID R. BOYD
These are troubled times for Canadians
clinging to the myth that Canada is an environmental leader. Our dismal
domestic record on issues ranging from climate change to endangered
species has been comprehensively criticized by many commentators,
ranging from David Suzuki to the Organization for Economic Co-operation
and Development.
However, Canada's role in sabotaging and opposing international
environmental agreements has, until now, largely escaped notice.
The many areas in which Canada is deliberately undermining
international efforts to protect the environment include critical
issues such as climate change, bottom trawling in the oceans, trade in
toxic substances, and the human right to clean water.
Other examples include Canada's opposition to a meaningful global
treaty on forest conservation and our cheerleading for genetically
modified organisms despite the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
Climate change is the most profound environmental challenge facing
humankind. Back in the late 1980s, Canada was at the forefront of
raising alarms about the impact of skyrocketing greenhouse gas
emissions on the planet. We quickly ratified the UN Convention on
Climate Change in 1992. Since then, Canada has been more obstructive
than constructive.
Under Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, the federal government made a big
deal about ratifying the Kyoto Protocol. However, Liberal governments
did little to live up to our commitment, resulting in Canadian
emissions rising by 30 per cent over a period of time when we had
promised they would fall.
There is now a strong possibility that Canada will be the only nation
that fails to fulfill its obligations under Kyoto, as we are by far the
furthest from our 2012 target.
Worse yet, Canada has blocked international efforts to take stronger action to address climate change.
For example, in the negotiations prior to last year's G-8 Summit in
Scotland, Canada opposed proposals to establish international minimum
standards for the fuel efficiency of vehicles and the energy efficiency
of buildings. Canada also opposed European proposals to place a special
tax on air travel.
On the marine front, decades ago Canada was one of the instigators of the landmark Law of the Sea Convention.
Despite this important treaty, the world's oceans are in deep trouble,
suffering from the adverse effects of climate change, pollution, and
overfishing.
There are ongoing international negotiations aimed at eliminating the
most destructive form of fishing, called bottom trawling. Biologists
describe it as bulldozing the ocean floor, wiping out corals and
sponges that, ironically, provide crucial habitat for the fish being
caught.
Canada is one of a handful of nations that opposes efforts to ban
bottom trawling on the high seas. Why? Because the federal government
fears that a bottom trawling ban on the high seas might translate into
an end to such trawling in Canadian waters, something we do with
reckless abandon.
Asbestos is a hazardous substance that causes a rare form of cancer
called mesothelioma, lung cancer, and a degenerative lung disease
called asbestosis.
All types of asbestos have been banned by many nations including
Australia and all 25 countries in the European Union. However, efforts
to place limits on the export of asbestos, pursuant to an international
treaty called the Rotterdam Convention, have been unsuccessful.
The major opponent to restricting trade in this hazardous substance? Canada, one of the world's leading asbestos exporters.
More than 90 per cent of Canadian exports head for developing nations
like India and the Philippines where health and safety regulations
either don't exist or aren't enforced. In effect, Canada is exporting a
product that will result in thousands of deaths in Asia, Africa, and
South America — deaths from a product that we deem unsafe for use in
Canada.
For more than a decade, there have been international negotiations
about recognizing that people have a basic human right to clean water.
Only one nation in the world repeatedly votes against resolutions that
would recognize water as a basic human right. Canada. Why? There is
paranoia in some parts of the federal government that recognition of a
right to water might be used somehow to force Canada to give away some
of our precious water.
Who should Canadians blame for this litany of debacles that erodes our formerly proud environmental reputation?
The usual cliché trotted out by environmentalists points the finger at
a lack of political will. This is an intellectually lazy response.
Canadians elect the politicians who approve these policies, pay the
salaries of the bureaucrats who implement them, and work for or
purchase products from the corporations whose lobbyists push these
irresponsible policies.
In a free and democratic society, the buck stops with the people. As Dr. Seuss wrote in his timeless book The Lorax, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."
Unless Canadians change our voting, consumption, and behaviour patterns
to make our actions consistent with our values, Canada's dismal
environmental record is exactly what we deserve.
David R. Boyd is an environmental lawyer, author, and a Trudeau Scholar at the University of British Columbia.
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