A report recently revealed at the UN Climate Change Conference in Mexico has stated Canada is ranked 54th out of 57 nations for their efforts to halt climate change. Now, I know what you’re thinking...”Hey Mark, I love warm weather, what’s so bad about that?” Great question Geoff, and we’ll also tackle the new feature you’ve inspired for this blog at the end of this article.
Climate change doesn’t necessarily mean warm weather, but it does bring a lot of issues for you individually, Canada as a nation, as well as having some harmful global implications. First off, the root causes of climate change include some pretty harmful stuff. Consider things like carbon dioxide and the toxins emitted from a whole range of industries and necessities (farming, oil procurement, transportation, manufacturing, Scotland – though not so much a necessity, more a means of hot air and scabby nipples). Now, I’m not suggesting that we interrupt any of those areas, but there needs to be a real re-think on our approach to them. Think of the lungs as our atmosphere and the processing of society’s needs as cigarettes: The more we smoke (produce using current methods) the worse off our lungs (atmosphere) will become.
I know you’re doubting this because either a) you smoke and don’t see how that should really matter to anyone else and are completely missing the point of this analogy, b) you’re John Paul Bell Jr. and happen to have the lungs of a mythical creature that smoking somehow makes more efficient, or c) there really aren’t a whole lot of alternatives that approach a level of cost-effectiveness and common sense that would make changing our habits viable, or even d) you’re ignorant to the levels of human suffering and death attributed to climate change – in which case how dare you!
Ranking so poorly reflects a level of ignorance that we as Canadians should be ashamed of. We have a vast country whose natural landscape and wildlife is already suffering irreparable damage because of climate change. Furthermore, it’s having a negative impact on our position in global politics. Recently Canada lost its bid to become a member of the UN Security Council to both Germany and Portugal. Germany makes sense considering they are one of the world’s largest economies and contribute to international systems and governance in a relatively responsible manner. But Portugal? Portugal hasn’t done a whole lot and they somehow managed to usurp Canada’s spot. One reason cited was that those members of the UN who are island nations voted in favour of Portugal because Canada has ignored its own climate change initiatives under the Conservative Government and Mr. Harper. Since island nations will certainly feel an immediate impact of climate change, it was an easy choice for them to make a statement against such failures.
From a business perspective, the key to success is innovation. Our failure to adapt and seize the opportunity to become global leaders in the emerging market of green technology innovation and application is a massive detriment that will only weaken our economy in the long term. Think of the jobs that could be created if there was a sustainable push towards renewable energy, emerging green technologies and more efficient green transportation. Instead, we’re likely to be importing technology from foreign countries and will continue to be reliant on commodity export that will eventually become irrelevant in the global marketplace.
Moral of the story gang, is that we need to do better. “But Mark, I’m not politician, so what can I do?” Well, you could write your MP, which is likely a fruitless exercise in idealism. There are lots of things you can do; here are some links that have some neat and cost-saving ideas:
Ultimately, it starts with all of us making a conscious effort to do some good. My perspective is that this can best be expressed at the municipal level, because in the provincial and federal arenas there are too many hurdles and interest groups that can get in the way. So, I think a good challenge is for a community like Cambridge to push for the status of being Carbon-Neutral, which basically means balancing low emissions with renewable energy to bring the two levels on par. While some intelligent cities in the world have already achieved this, and some incredibly ambitious and responsible national governments are making it a matter of domestic policy, little has been advanced towards such a goal in Canada. Having said that, if anyone would like to work on a pilot project for Cambridge, let me know and we can get a group going that can address such an issue. Thanks for the read.
Back to Geoff’s contribution to this blog, he will soon be publishing updates from his soon to be cook-book “Cooking with Heff.” Make sure you watch for the “sliders” recipe, it’s pretty delicious!
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