Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
The good news from Copenhagen: province praised
The global climate change deal may have been a bust, but Manitobans, including Premier Greg Selinger, say the Copenhagen conference had some bright spots.
Selinger said controversy surrounding Canada's climate change policies did not stop several provinces, including Manitoba, from garnering positive reviews.
Selinger said while Canada was being roasted for its unwillingness to take a leadership role at the summit, Manitoba was being feted for its policies -- one of several provinces singled out for specific measures to offset climate change.
"When we were over there, what we were doing at the provincial level was very well-received," Selinger said. "But this kind of stuff gets totally lost in... the discussion about the architecture of an international agreement."
Selinger noted Manitoba policies related to hydroelectricity development in partnership with First Nations communities, energy efficiency, protection of polar bears and development of geothermal heating and cooling, all drew rave reviews.
Hank Venema, the natural resources expert at the Winnipeg-based International Institute for Sustainable Development, was at the climate change summit for the duration. He said the talks helped hone in on how to deal with peatlands and boreal forests like the ones that blanket Manitoba.
At issue is how governments count those carbon sinks and how much credit they get for protecting them.
"There was momentum and a lot of progress in nailing that stuff down, but it didn't make it into the final text," Venema said. "But that could be resurrected at the next round of talks."
As a member of an environmental group, Venema said he sidestepped a lot of the venom directed at Canada and its poor environmental record. Instead, Venema said he was acutely aware of the divisions between rich countries, which have been responsible for most of the greenhouse gas emissions in recent decades, and developing countries under pressure to sacrifice economic growth to pollution reduction.
Particularly jarring for Venema was an outdoor photo exhibit showing dozens of places in the world that could disappear if the climate warms, and hearing from countries like Bangladesh where refugees have already been forced to flee rising waters.
"It wasn't so much that as a Canadian I felt in any way singled out, but I felt this deep unease that it is really, really late in the day," Venema said. "Civil society expected a lot more from Copenhagen and I can certainly understand why, given how little time is left."
maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
COPENHAGEN COMPROMISE
Countries agree they should keep global temperature increases to no more than 2 C, but no firm emissions targets were nailed down.
Major countries will submit their 2020 emissions targets to the United Nations by the end of January.
Developed countries will earmark $30 billion over three years to help poor countries fight climate change.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 22, 2009 A6
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