SAINT-LÉON-DE-STANDON, QC, Nov. 8, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - A delegation of three people from the Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique ( AQLPA ) is about to leave for Warsaw (Poland ) to take part in the 19th Conference of the Parties on Climate Change organized by the United Nations , from 11 to 22 November 2013. The fifth IPCC report recently published confirms the climate impasse in which the world is heading day after day and highlights the importance of these negotiations. The 19th meeting is also a first step towards a new international agreement on climate change to be signed in 2015 in Paris.
The IPCC report notes that to limit the rise in global temperature to 2°C , considered the threshold limit to prevent dangerous interference with the climate system , global emissions of greenhouse gases ( GHG) emissions must be reduced to less than half of what they were in 2010 by 2050 . Emissions must then be phased out 2070. To achieve this, 66% and 80% of fossil energy reserves currently known will have to remain underground1. However, Canada is doing exactly the opposite of all that. Having renounced the Kyoto Protocol and set rather shabby goals of reducing GHG emissions - goals that will not be met by far - Canada is now promoting increased production in the oil sands, one of the dirtiest fossil fuel sources on the planet. Moreover, according to the annual Index Performance on Climate Change of 2012, Canada now ranks 58th out of 61 countries in terms of policies and actions on climate change2.
During the next two weeks, members of the AQLPA delegation will comment on climate news live from Warsaw (follow the AQLPA Blog: www.blogueaqlpa.com). They will pay special attention to what Canada's representatives will be up to.
"To be part of the solution and not an environmental thug, Canada must commit to eliminating subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, commit to implementing a transition to renewable energy and to energy efficiency, and commit to introducing a carbon market and a carbon tax for the whole country. The Government of Canada needs to set ambitious targets for reducing GHG emissions in the short term and plan the phasing out of those emissions in the longer term. Finally, Canada must play a constructive role in the COP19 negotiations", said Alain Brunel, AQLPA Climate-Energy Director AQLPA and head of the delegation.
The AQLPA team has prepared a brief analysis of the issues of COP19 and a summary of the impacts of climate change by world region (from the 5th Report of the IPCC).
- Issues of climate negotiations in Warsaw ( COP19 ) - in French.
- Summary of climate change impacts, region by region - in French with English spreadsheets.
1 Unburnable Carbon, Wasted Capitals and Stranded Assets de Carbon Tracker Initiative http://www.carbontracker.org/wastedcapital
2 The Climate Change Performance Index - Results 2012 http://germanwatch.org/klima/ccpi.pdf
SOURCE: AQLPA
Source
Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique (AQLPA)
Louise Lévesque, Communications Director
T 418-642-1322 poste 294 / C 418-264-5575 / [email protected]
Contacts
André Bélisle, president AQLPA
T 418-642-1322 poste 223 / C 418-386-6992 / [email protected]
Alain Brunel, Climate-Energy Director AQLPA
C 514-835-3402 / [email protected]
Share this article