Harper urges climate rules for all countries

Harper urges climate rules for all countries
Last Updated: Saturday, November 14, 2009 | 9:05 PM ET Comments771Recommend81
CBC News

Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet at the APEC summit on Saturday.Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet at the APEC summit on Saturday. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)Full global participation in cutting greenhouse gases is necessary to tackle global warming, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said at an APEC summit in Singapore on Saturday.

Emerging economies already contribute close to half of all global emissions, and that proportion will rise to two-thirds in the future, he told reporters.

"If we don't control those, whatever we do in the developed world will have no impact on climate change," Harper said.

Prof. Tim Flannery of the Copenhagen Climate Council, also in Singapore for the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation countries, delivered a harsh assessment of Canada's record on reducing emissions.

Flannery told The Canadian Press that Canada faces an international credibility crisis because it is "by far the biggest defaulter" on previous Kyoto Protocol obligations.

He said even though Canada signed on 11 years ago, it has failed to meet its obligations.

"The people of Canada, through their government, made the commitment, and it needs to be honoured somehow or other, or it needs to be dealt with," the Australian climate-change expert said.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his wife Laureen chat with U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday.Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his wife Laureen chat with U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday. (PMO/Jason Ransom)

"Canada is by far the biggest defaulter on its Kyoto obligations on a tonnage basis. And as a result of that there is a lack of trust," he said.

The APEC summit comes less than a month before a United Nations climate change conference opens in Copenhagen, where leaders of almost 200 countries will gather to hash out a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.

Harper acknowledged there are "significant differences" over how to tackle climate change, but he said every leader he's spoken to at the summit agrees on the need for a long-term plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

When it comes to the economy, the prime minister is pushing for a reduction of trade barriers, in light of the global recession.

David Emerson, Canada's former minister for international trade, told CBC News that in the 21st century, environmental issues cannot be separated from economic and trade issues "because they're becoming increasingly intertwined."

Canada needs to get more pro-active on boosting trade with emerging economies, including having a physical presence in those countries, which direct investment, Emerson said.

"It means moving people into those markets… it means cultural knowledge and adaptation and fluency with language," he said in an interview on CBC's The National on Saturday.

"It's a much different game today and it's going to take a much broader, deeper, more comprehensive effort for Canada to get back in the game in the way we should be."

Before heading to Singapore for the summit, U.S. President Barack Obama said in a speech in Tokyo that China's growing economy doesn't have to be seen as a negative force for the United States.

"We look to rising powers with the view that in the 21st century, the national security and economic growth of one country need not come at the expense of another," he said.

"In an inter-connected world, power does not need to be a zero-sum game, and nations need not fear the success of another," Obama said. "Cultivating spheres of co-operation — not competing spheres of influence — will lead to progress in the Asia Pacific."