Author: John Hollins, Ottawa.
In the opening round of the Conservative leadership event on 2016 February 4, a couple of candidates referred to Canada’s contribution to global emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), one saying 1.5%, the other 2%. They’re close enough — Environment Canada reported that in 2012 Canada was the source of 1.6% of global GHG emissions. The implication of the candidates’ remarks, however, was that this percentage is so small as to be ignored.
If one cites percentages, one should set them in context. The population of Canada is 0.5% of the population of the world. So each Canadian is responsible for three times the emissions of the average global citizen. And 10, 20, 30 times the amount of citizens of poorer countries.
There is a moral issue and a practical issue. The moral issue is: does each citizen of Canada have a right to emit vastly larger amounts of GHG into the one and only atmosphere that we share with the other seven billion citizens of the world? Given my values, formed as a youngster and evolved during a career in science and policy, I cannot make a case that I, as a citizen of Canada, have the right to emit more than someone in, say, Sri Lanka or Mali.
The practical issue is that the globe is warming rapidly. Humankind’s cumulative emissions to date have already led to clearly observable changes, for example, in the Canadian arctic. It is highly probable that global warming will continue and likely accelerate: countries governed by autocrats or plutocrats are unlikely to reduce their emissions; and democracies that try are more likely to fail than to succeed.
So what is the Parliament of Canada doing to look after the interests of our children and grandchildren (another moral point) in a much warmer world? I suggest not very much. Within its borders, Canada is likely to get off much more lightly than many countries, but the stresses from the rest of the warmer world might make the current European difficulties with refugees look like child’s play. Canada should put at least as much effort into adaptation to global warming as into the management of our emissions.
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Bio: John Hollins has done research in radiation biology and worked on policy and programs in renewable energy and in energy and environmental issues: in Canada, and at the OECD and the International Energy Agency. He is the current Chair of CACOR.
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