B.C.B次元官网网址檚 delegation to the annual United Nations climate change summit has returned from the desert of Morocco, North Africa.
B.C. Environment Minister Mary Polak skipped this yearB次元官网网址檚 event, sending West Vancouver MLA Jordan Sturdy to collect one of 13 UN B次元官网网址淢omentum for ChangeB次元官网网址� awards handed out at COP22, the 22nd international B次元官网网址淐onference of the Parties.B次元官网网址�
B.C. was recognized for its revenue neutral $30-a-tonne carbon tax, still the only substantial tax on carbon fuel consumption in North America.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also passed this year, visiting Cuba and Argentina instead. His entourage would have brought CanadaB次元官网网址檚 delegation close to the record 335 Canadian officials who jetted to COP21 in Paris last year, but without him it was a relatively modest 225.
A few more numbers: with 20,000 delegates and observers, another 30,000 B次元官网网址渃ivil societyB次元官网网址� activists from 192 countries, and 1,500 journalists, a temporary city sprang up at the village of Bab Ighli near Marrakech. It was fitted with electric car charging stations, which sat unused after everyone flew in from around the world.
Sturdy is B.C.B次元官网网址檚 Parliamentary Secretary for Energy Literacy and the Environment. This vast circus of hot air and hot airport tarmac certainly suggests a need for greater energy literacy, among participants especially. But enough of the UNB次元官网网址檚 hypocrisy.
The big news at Morocco was the surprise election of Donald Trump, who has vowed to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord. With no restrictions on rapidly growing China and India until 2030, and withdrawal of the U.S., the worldB次元官网网址檚 second largest emitter after China, other countries face an impossible burden.
For countries that ratify it, the Paris deal consists of non-binding commitments to reduce their CO2 emissions with a goal to keep global average temperature rise below two degrees.
Speaking in Morocco, federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said Canada will stay the course. Trudeau has given provinces a 2018 deadline to impose their own carbon price, starting at $10 a tonne and rising by $10 each year, or Ottawa will do it for them.
By 2021, this would see the rest of Canada catch up to B.C. HowB次元官网网址檚 that working here? After a dip in emissions mostly caused by a world recession, B.C.B次元官网网址檚 greenhouse gas emissions are rising along with its growing economy.
But enough of my skepticism. I asked B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver about all this. A climate scientist and hard-liner on carbon emissions, he says the intent of the Paris agreement for Canada is simple.
B次元官网网址淚n signing Paris, youB次元官网网址檝e committed to de-carbonizing your energy systems,B次元官网网址� Weaver said. B次元官网网址淵ou cannot approve any new fossil fuel infrastructure.B次元官网网址�
That means no pipelines to B.C.B次元官网网址檚 northwest coast for liquefied natural gas exports to Asia, and no twinning of the 63-year-old Trans Mountain oil pipeline.
The Trudeau government has approved the Petronas-led Pacific Northwest LNG project, which Weaver insists will never be built because the economics donB次元官网网址檛 work. And he expects, like many others, that Trudeau is poised to approve the Trans Mountain project, which would face opposition like weB次元官网网址檝e never seen before.
If the U.S. actually tears up climate and trade deals, Weaver says other countries should impose tariffs on its export goods to price U.S. emissions.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 not overly concerned about Trump,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭he guyB次元官网网址檚 a windbag.B次元官网网址�
Pardon my personal carbon footprint, but IB次元官网网址檓 visiting Japan and China at the end of the month with B.C.B次元官网网址檚 annual forest ministry trade mission. Those two countries are key customers for B.C. LNG and Alberta oil.
IB次元官网网址檒l have more on that in a future column.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: @tomfletcherbc
