Withdrawing Canada from Kyoto Protocol a purely political move, budget numbers reveal

(OTTAWA) February 19, 2016 – Numbers released today show the Harper government saved only $596,000 by legally withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a move that made Canada an “environmental pariah” on the international stage, says Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada and MP (Saanich-Gulf ...

2015: the year that must change everything

How we can make up for nine years of lost time? Having worked on the climate issue from 1986, back when it was a future threat, to present times, where it is the stuff of daily headlines, I have to admit that it would be easy to feel discouraged. We have squandered decades that would ...

Re-engaging in the world: Canada has a short runway to prepare for COP21

Globally, nations are engaging, with varying degrees of enthusiasm and ambition, in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the deadline negotiations set for December 2015 in Paris. It will be the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21); the deadline for a workable comprehensive treaty. Deadlines have come and gone. We had ...

2015: The Year of Climate Challenges

It’s crunch time. The science of the climate crisis is clear. We are running out of time to reduce global emissions. This year Canadian policymakers must accomplish two goals – ensure Canada adopts a meaningful plan to cut carbon pollution while also preparing for the upcoming critical negotiations for a new global treaty. I learned ...

Climate talks: A long road from Lima to Paris

Walking through the streets of Lima on Wednesday in that nation’s largest-ever march for climate action, I turned to a friend and said: “If you had told me when I started working on this issue in 1986 that I would still be in climate marches when I was 60 and that Canada would be ramping ...

Why Canada needs an Energy Policy

It is clear that debates dealing with energy choices dominate the news: Pipelines – Keystone, Enbridge, Kinder-Morgan, Energy East; oil sands versus tar sands; climate policy and the lack thereof; coal plants and so on. For the most part, these debates are treated as isolated, zero-sum games. You can either have a healthy economy or ...

Climate change also a security threat

We deserve an energy plan, a climate plan, and the new industrial revolution of clean-tech and renewables. The first step is for Harper to get out of the way. By Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, Green MP Bruce Hyer What is an environmental issue? However you define it, Harper is against it. “Environment” means different ...

Why I voted against the NDP climate motion

Goodness knows, I wish the NDP had put forward a motion I could have voted for.  We need a good debate on climate and we need a strong call for government action.  But, I couldn’t vote for that motion. Here’s the text of the motion: That this House: agree with many Canadians and the International ...

Canada Goes Rogue

I am frequently asked how I maintain a positive attitude when confronted by Stephen Harper’s destructive agenda—dismembering our environmental laws and policies. Honestly, I can respond that most days I am encouraged by the ability of one MP to make a difference. That was not the case last week as, sitting late in the House ...

Canada Delivers Another Blow to Global Environmental Law

Prime Minister Harper’s administration has once more shocked the community of nations by withdrawing from an environmental treaty. This time it is the 1994 United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.  This is only the second time in Canadian history we have withdrawn from a treaty. The first time was the Kyoto Protocol. “We do not ...