With a little help from his friends?
The Canadian public has now joined the United Nations, the European Union, Nobel Peace Prize Laureates and organizations around the world in calling on Prime Minister Harper to stop trying to sideline climate change at this weekend’s G8 and G20.
A new poll released this morning from the Gandalf Group on behalf of Climate Action Network Canada shows:
• 78 per cent of respondents believe that the Canadian government should use the G8 and G20 meetings as an opportunity to signal that Canada wants to be a leader in the global fight against climate change (48 per cent strongly support; 30 per cent support).
The poll also shows that 2/3 of Canadians want to see the phase out of fossil fuel subsidies, and that the same number of respondents don’t buy the Governments “wait and see” approach in terms of doing nothing to fight climate change until the U.S. acts.
This is all part of the growing pressure that has forced Harper to backtrack on his argument that climate change is only a “sideshow” on the G8 and G20 agendas.
Earlier this month there was president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, who criticized Canada for waiting for other countries to take action before seriously addressing climate change. Then UN chief Ban Ki Moon told Harper to put climate on the G20 agenda. Mr. Ban emphasized that “Canada has a special role and a special responsibility to play” as leader of the G8 and chair of the G20.
Six Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, also demanding that climate change be a central issue, further echoed these calls.
The world and the Canadian public is waiting for leadership on climate change. Perhaps when the doors open in Muskoka — climate may have gotten the attention it deserves, thanks not to our current government, but instead global colleagues, the Canadian public, and organizations who know that a meeting of world leaders can’t happen without a serious discussion on one of the biggest and most urgent challenges facing us today.
Stay tuned.
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