Ecology vs. Economy The Kyoto Accord and the change of Canada’s international image between 2002 and 2012

Marcin Gabryś

Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

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How outsiders saw Canada prior to decisionto quit the Kyoto accord• Canada has/had one of the finest international reputations in the world

• 2007 - Canada the best in a globe-spanning survey of attitudes toward 12 major nations

• 54 per cent viewing it positively and 14 per cent negatively

• Canada’s traditional image connected with: • Human Security, peacekeeping, multilateralism, dispute resolution between

countries

• “Global citizen” role• sought constructive global solutions to increasingly global problems

• Strong promoter of global climate change awareness• Commitment to international environmental and development agendas• Example: The Montreal Protocol of 1987

• Agreement to phase out CFCs and other materials that damage the earth's ozone layer• "perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date has been the

Montreal Protocol” - Kofi Annan

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Negotiating Kyoto• 1997 - Prime Minister Jean Chrétien negotiated an obligation to cut

Canada's annual emissions of greenhouse gases by 6% below their 1990 levels from 2008-2012• Similar to other developed countries - US accepted equally demanding

commitments

• Difficult task for Canada• heavily dependent on fossil fuels with the greenhouse gas-intensive

nature, a net oil and gas exporter• Australia – negotiated 8% increase on 1990 levels

• 2001 – President George W. Bush decided no to ratify the Kyoto accord• one might expect Canada to be less inclined than the US to ratify• costs on economically and thus politically significant industry, threat to

Canadian exports

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Kyoto Accord• December 17, 2002 - the Canadian parliament ratified the Kyoto Accord

• Prime Minister Jean Chrétien: “believing in international institutions”, "playing a positive role for future generations”

• Prime Minister Chrétien highly engaged in Kyoto agreement • despite opposition from business (especially the petroleum industry) and the

provinces

• Chrétien’s Cabinet colleague: “he believed it was the right thing to do” • conversion to environmentalism at the end of his political career, • Without his personal interest it would be impossible to ratify the Kyoto

agreement (Kathryn Harrison’s thesis)

• Strong and disciplined majority in the House of Commons – the institutional capacity to deliver on Chretien’s personal commitment to the Kyoto Protocol

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Lack of implementation• Structure of Canadian federalism as a great obstacle to

implementation• the federal government has the authority to negotiate multilateral

agreements and enact legislation to respect their terms,• in the case of climate change much of this legislation affects energy,

which is of provincial jurisdiction

• Attempts at action were made, but differing provincial views as to how (or whether) action should be taken, coupled with federal indecision and later with deliberate indifference to the issue • Lack of ratification by the US – Canada was stuck with the need to

curb emissions while facing complaints from industry groups that the proposed cuts would give US competitors an unfair advantage

• Under successive Liberal and Conservative governments, Canada has failed to do much to curb its carbon emissions, which rose by 20.4% between 1990 and 2009.

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Harper’s Believes• 2002 - Stephen Harper called the Kyoto accord a "socialist scheme"

designed to suck money out of rich countries, "job-killing, economy-destroying” based on "tentative and contradictory scientific evidence" and it focuses on carbon dioxide, which is "essential to life."

• 2006 - Harper cancelled the Liberal government programmes and funding designed to lower emission of grenhouse gasses

• “we do not agree with a protocol that only controls a little bit of global emissions, not enough to actually make any difference but enough to transfer Canadian jobs overseas”

• Economy #1 in the 2011 Conservative election platform

• Harper's base of support is in the oil-rich province of Alberta

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Kyoto Accord - 2011• December 12, 2011 - Canada became the first country to quit the

Kyoto Accord

• Peter Kent, Environment Minister: „[…] under Kyoto Canada is facing radical and irresponsible choices if we are to avoid punishing MULTI-BILLION dollar payments […] To meet the targets under Kyoto for 2012 [Canada would have to] remove every car, truck, ATV, tractor, ambulance, police car and vehicle of every kind from Canadian roads”

• Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the House of Commons: "What made absolutely no sense for this country was a Liberal government that signed the Kyoto protocols, signed what I quite frankly think were stupid targets and then had no plan after 10 years in office to even implement those"

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Canadian and International Response• Bob Rae (interim Liberal leader ): „Canada became an international

"pariah”

• Greenpeace: the Conservatives "imposed a death sentence on many of the world's most vulnerable populations by pulling out of Kyoto”

• German’s environment minister: Canada’s decision both "unnecessary and in that respect very unpleasant”

• France’s foreign ministry spokesman: “bad news for the fight against climate change”

• China: Canada’s move "irresponsible"

• Ian Fry, the lead climate negotiator for Tuvalu (South Pacific): “an act of sabotage on our future”

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Media Coverage• Berliner Zeitung: „The main reason for the debacle lies with

Canada's energy policy. The oil industry is making more use of oil sands, which is environmentally costly. The country has also failed to fulfill its CO2 savings potential. Still, Canada wholeheartedly supports the global climate protocol set to begin in 2020. But how serious can this be?”

• Die Tageszeitung: "Canada doesn't want to play by the rules any longer. […] A ban on dirty Canadian oil from tar sands is one answer, while another could be general punitive tariffs for those who don't take part in climate-protection measures”

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Media Coverage• Internet: „A beautiful nation turning itself into a corrupt petro-

state”

• Financial Times Deutschland: "Canada has shown once again just how often countries put their individual economic interests first, and just how casually environmental protection continues to be sacrificed”

• Guardian: "Canada's inaction was blamed by some on its desire to protect the lucrative but highly polluting exploitation of tar sands, the second biggest oil reserve in the world.”

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Media Coverage• Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - "The decision made by the

Canadian government to pull out of the Kyoto Protocol […]represents a victory of reason. It shows that protecting the environment produces costs that, given concern over jobs, not everyone is willing to pay, particularly when important countries refuse to be pressured into joining environmental-protection treaties. The government in Ottawa thus deserves our praise”

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Do Canadians care?• 1992: 85% of Canadians considered global warming to be either “very

serious” or “somewhat serious” (78% in the US)

• 2002: 73 to 79% of Canadians supported ratification of the Kyoto Accord

• 2003 - only half of Canadians were aware that Canada had already ratified the Kyoto Protocol

• 2011 – 56% of Canadians wanted Canada to sign on to a new international climate agreement, even it means job losses in some domestic industries and higher prices for some goods and services.

• At the same time climate change is not seen as a “clear and present danger” at home

• the most pressing issue facing Canadians: economy and health care

• BBC has Canada's withdrawal from Kyoto as its top international story, the Toronto Star has a 400 word article on pg A4

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Canada linked to the US• The Canadian government's current plan - cut emissions by 17

percent of 2005 levels by 2020 in sepecific sectors (eg. transport) -almost identical to the strategy of President Barack Obama• Integrated nature of Canadian and the US economies• Canada is the largest supplier of oil and gas to the United States and

sends 75% of its exports south each month.• the Canadian government negotiated its original commitment in Kyoto

with a keen eye to the US position and also maintained a close alliance with the US

• Canada’s ratification of Kyoto - a triumph of domestic politics over international interdependence

• Harper government’s climate policies generally align with the views of a majority of Canadians• “It is not clear to Canadians what the right treaty is or what the right

approach is, but they want something done”

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Canada’s Reputation• 2012 - Canada's image in the world has deteriorated sharply

in the past year (BBC World Service survey)

• Question: Does Canada have a mainly positive or negative influence in the world?

• Positive views of Canada fell most steeply in the United States, Britain and China

• Canada's popularity declined for the first time

• Possible reason: negative media coverage of Canada's environmental policies• Risk of hurt Canadian business interests

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The change of Canada’s international image• In international politics reputation is a country’s one of the most important asset

• it's extremely hard work to regain trust• The current Conservative government is fully aware of that:

• "Rapid growth in oil sands production has led to increased attention being focused on this sector, such that this issue has become a threat to Canada's international brand” - briefing notes prepared for federal natural resources minister Joe Oliver

• [has]„fundamental importance to Canadian trade and national and international energy security• Bad publicity from the withdrawal from the Kyoto accord may make tar-sands oil harder to sell abroad

• The United States has already held up approval of a new pipeline from Alberta - Keystone XL • Voices from the European Union

• Conservative Northern Strategy• Global wariming as a threat to Inuit people, culture, and ecology of the Arctic

• Christiana Figueres, head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change “Whether or not Canada is a party to the Kyoto Protocol, it has a legal obligation under the Convention to reduce its emissions, and a moral obligation to itself and future generations to lead in the global effort”

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