POZNAN, Poland, Dec. 2 /CNW/ - Nearly two-thirds of Canadians want to see Canada take action to tackle global warming despite the economic crisis, according to new polling released today by four Canadian observer organizations at the UN climate talks in Poznan, Poland.
"Canadians believe that the government should tackle global warming despite the economic crisis," said Graham Saul, Climate Action Network Canada. "Unfortunately, Canada's government is still stuck in a mentality that sees action on global warming as a risk to our economy."
In his first major speech as Canada's Environment Minister, Jim Prentice
pledged last week not to "aggravate an already weakening economy in the name
of environmental progress."
The poll surveyed 1,015 Canadians from November 17 to 23, 2008 on four questions relevant to the UN climate meetings now underway in Poznan. The full
results, including regional breakdowns, are available here. The poll was commissioned by the United Church of Canada, Greenpeace, Climate
Action Network Canada-Réseau Action Climat Canada, and the Pembina Institute.
The poll finds little support from Canadians for some of the arguments that the Harper government has made at international climate meetings. For example, 83% of Canadians surveyed agreed with the statement that "Canada should commit to strong action on global warming without waiting for other countries" — a position at odds with the government's view that Canada cannot move more quickly than the U.S., or that binding targets for Canada must wait until major developing countries commit to reducing their emissions.
The Harper government's current national emissions targets fall far short of the levels recommended by climate scientists to avoid catastrophic climate impacts. (The government's national target for 2020 is equivalent to 3% below the 1990 level, while leading climate scientists recommend reductions to at least 25% below the 1990 level by 2020.) Despite the government's position, more than three -quarters of respondents agreed that "Canada's global warming targets should be based on what leading scientists say is needed to avoid serious harm to people and the environment, even if meeting these targets entails some cost to the economy."
Finally, more than two-thirds of those surveyed agreed that "the world's richest countries, including Canada, should provide sufficient financial aid to allow developing countries to cope with global warming." Compensating poorer countries for the effects of global warming — which has been caused mainly by rich countries' emissions — is one of the key issues on the table at the negotiations.
"The results are crystal clear," said Dave Martin, climate coordinator for Greenpeace Canada. "Canadians want real leadership on global warming, and they won't accept hypocrisy and greenwashing from the Harper government. Canada should act now without waiting for other countries."
"If the government was listening to Canadians, we'd have a much more ambitious approach to cutting our greenhouse gas pollution," said Clare Demerse, a senior policy analyst at the Pembina Institute. "Right now, Canada's targets are nowhere close to the level that scientists tell us is needed to do our fair share in avoiding catastrophic global warming."
"Global warming is already putting the world's poorest people in harm's way, and Canadians want to help," said Joy Kennedy, program coordinator (poverty, wealth and ecological justice) at The United Church of Canada. "In Poznan, governments are talking about how to ensure that funding is provided to poorer countries so they can cope with climate change. These poll results show that our government must do much better to live up to Canadians' expectations."
The telephone poll was conducted by McAllister Opinion Research, a member of the international body for professional opinion and market research. A random sample of 1,015 Canadians were surveyed, producing a margin of error of +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20.
For further information:
Graham Saul, Climate Action Network-Réseau action climat, +48-783-227-705
Dave Martin, Greenpeace Canada, +48 500-878-359
Clare Demerse, Pembina Institute, +48-798-620-765
Joy Kennedy, The United Church of Canada, jkennedy@web.ca