Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, in response to the devastating Typhoon Haiyan, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for a leaders’ summit on climate to take place in September of next year, in New York.
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Ban Ki-moon has made clear, as have many scientists, the likely connections between these devastating and increasingly devastating weather events and the climate crisis.
Now, that the deadline is looming for a new treaty to replace Kyoto, a treaty the Prime Minister says he supports, will he join the leaders’ climate summit September 24, 2014, in New York, to seek solutions while there is still time?
Right Hon. Stephen Harper: Mr. Speaker, first, I want to congratulate the Minister of International Development and others for their swift response to the effort in the Philippines. I think the Canadian response has been appreciated by our Filipino friends all across the country and, of course the Government of the Philippines, as well.
On the matter, obviously, of international climate change, we continue to favour an international treaty that would have binding obligations upon all emitters. The Kyoto accord, of course, had binding obligations upon less than one-third of emissions, which is why it was not an effective instrument. We will continue to work with the international community, in the hope of developing an effective instrument.