Feb. 3, 2007: Climate, Spin, Awards, Politics

Note, my comments are in navy or dark blue.


Update post: Note that this is the summary, not the full report.

Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis
Summary for Policymakers


Harper would attend UN climate-change meeting , Andrew Mayeda, CanWest / Ottawa Citizen, February 01, 2007

www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.ht
ml?id=e0d0ede6-742b-4aec-ba1c-b60423c03b47

"The first is that we all recognize this is a serious environmental problem that needs immediate action. Canada's decision to do nothing over the past decade was a mistake, and we want to do better," said the prime minister. "At the same time, to have a truly effective international effort, we must have the participation of all major emitters, including countries like China, India, the United States and others."

The last statement is noteworthy, because Harper last year expressed interest in a parallel agreement supported by the U.S., China and India, called the Asia-Pacific Partnership, which sets voluntary targets, rather than mandatory ones under the Kyoto Protocol.

The U.S. has not ratified Kyoto, and China and India are not required to reduce emissions under the environmental agreement. [....]

End of update



Whenever I read of awards in Canada, I check for political connections ... and business intersecting ... and I am seldom disappointed. See what you find. Check prize lists; it is always informative of what has been planned ... although, it won't be phrased quite like that. Distinguished Citizens all, of course.

Al Gore, Inuit activist, Sheila Watt-Cloutier gain Nobel Peace Prize nod , John Acher, Reuters, February 01, 2007


www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=
3a6107fd-0366-442e-87a6-e52cb7da09fa&k=0

[....] They also nominated Inuit campaigner [and international activist] Sheila Watt-Cloutier of Canada for her work to show how climate change is affecting the lives of the Arctic indigenous people, Brende said.

Brende said Gore had also boosted the chances of reaching a consensus among world leaders on measures to tackle climate change from 2012 when the first period of the Kyoto Protocol curbing emissions of greenhouse gases ends.

The United States signed the Kyoto pact in 1997 when Gore was vice president but President Bill Clinton never submitted it to the Senate for ratification, knowing it would be defeated [....]

Brende teamed up with a political opponent from the Socialist Left party, Heidi Soerensen, to nominate Gore for the peace prize by the Feb. 1 deadline for nominations.

Background: excerpts only -- Check the full post and other links.

Jan. 20, 2007: #2
Kyoto, The Science and the Scientists, Native Input, Funding, Special Arrangements and More

frosthitstherhubarb.blogspot.com/
2007/01/jan-20-2007-2.html

Sheila Watt-Cloutier

Chair, Inuit Circumpolar Conference [As an Inuit social worker and one involved in treaty negotiations, what background makes her views on climate change important for this roundtable? She would have anecdotal and personal background but .... perhaps political connections?]

[....] May 29, 06 #2: Kyoto, Scientists & Data

Project Green would have cost $12 billion by 2012, with much of that money being spent outside Canada.

[....] Climate Change, the Networks, NRTEE National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy

[....] Inuit land claims ... and the NRTEE: National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy

... Sheila Watt-Cloutier, originally from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, Northern Quebec, "oversaw the administration of the Inuit land-claims body established under the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement as Corporate Secretary of Makivik from 1995 to 1998."

[....] She champions ... traditional ecological knowledge ...


"Offering a safe haven for discussion"? Is that the purpose of the NRTEE: National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy?

[....] the promotion of key energy technologies.

Economic Instruments for Long-term Reductions in Energy-based Carbon Emissions – State of the Debate report, released in August 2005


Didn't we used to call "economic instruments" taxpayer funding? Just which "key energy technologies" were planned

[....] Sheila Watt-Cloutier

Chair, Inuit Circumpolar Conference [As an Inuit social worker and one involved in treaty negotiations, what background makes her views on climate change important for this roundtable?]

[....] Watt-Cloutier ... Inter- American Commission on Human Rights .... by connecting climate change to human rights, .... There are some cases where they can refer to the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, but that court, based in Costa Rica ....

TIKSI, Russia ....

[....] Inuit Circumpolar Conference ... represents 155,000 Inuit scattered across Canada, Greenland, Russia and the United States has enlisted lawyers .... [Remember Adrienne Clarkson, then-GG, and her Circumpolar Tour?]

[....] environmental justice issues

[....] ECOSOC [Read, search, check further -- very interesting]

[....] arguing that the international community has a 'right to protect' [What might that entail?]

Responsibility to Protect - Engaging Civil Society R2PCS. The project, which is a collaboration of the WFM and Canadian government, aims to bring NGOs into lockstep with the principles outlined under the original R2P project. [....]

Et cetera ... There are links to more.

Somehow, my cynicism kicks in when I note the past government's plans, the appointments, the awards (think Award of Excellence, for example), the travel by the Ex-GG to the polar regions, retinue in tow, including Ms. Watt-Cloutier who is to be awarded a Nobel Peace (why Peace?) prize, the trip by ex-Languages Tzar Dyane Adam to the Asia-Pacific area that just happened to coincide with planned business deals, the trip by the present GG to Africa (Mali, Libya and ... business deals in the offing ... when things get back to normal, politically) and I smell plans in the works a long time ago.


I posted on the IPCC report: Frost Hits the Rhubarb Jan. 29, 2007: Climate, IPCC, CBC, Film

frosthitstherhubarb.blogspot.com/2007/01/
jan-29-2007-climate-ipcc-cbc-film.html

From what I can tell, the current news reports are based upon the Summary, not the full report, which may be less certain in expression about the causes, given the uncertainty among scientists. I have posted several items on Kyoto, global warming, and related. Search Technorati, as well as elsewhere.

[United Nations / UN ] Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) latest report.

Actually, the spin will come mostly in the Summary for Policy Makers. The report itself, running to several hundred pages, will consist mostly of dry scientific papers that are usually far less definitive about the causes and effects of climate change. [....]