The biggest story of 2011 for me was the national and international attention given to the environmental dangers of Canada's tar sands, and the failure of the Harper government to meet our obligations to combat climate change. Until this year, most criticism of Canada's climate policy was restricted to Canadian and some international environmentalists. But three events of 2011 caused Canada's energy and climate policies to come under intense scrutiny here in Canada and around the world.

For more from Stig, see: http://www.shtig.net/

The cartoon/poster copied below summarizes the very disappointing results from the latest UN conference on Climate Change, COP17, that was held in Durban, South Africa in early December 2011.

This cartoon is based on a similar design I drew for the Gaia Foundation that focused on "smart agriculture." If you want a larger version to print, please download this 1.2Mb version, which will look sharp on an A4 print-out. 

Ryan Leef
Member of Parliament, Yukon
Open Letter #8
December, 2011

Dear Ryan,

With Christmas almost upon us, I'd hoped to send you a warm letter sharing a few quotes from Charles Dickens. However, an agreement struck on December 11th in Durban commits both developed and developing countries to make a climate action plan by 2015 to be implemented by 2020. This was followed by news that Canada has formally withdrawn from the Kyoto Protocol.

So it is with sorrow that I write my eighth letter on the Conservative government's policy on the environment.

The United Nations climate change talks in Durban, South Africa, ended 2011 with a whimper. After a year in which climate disasters rolled across the globe, major polluting nations like Canada chose to ignore them, seeking instead to disrupt the Durban negotiations, then blew the world a raspberry, by officially pulling out of the Kyoto Accord.