By Nick Fillmore
In addition to the staging of the PanAm Games, Toronto was the location of some unusually high profile activities in recent days that were supposed to increase the efforts to tackle climate change.
The events raised some important questions: How effective are efforts to slow the increase of carbon emissions into the atmosphere, do Canadians agree on the extent of damage to our environment, and what do scientists say in their most recent reports about the degree of the threat?
Celebrities lead ‘the big protest: First, Toronto had the spectacle of actor/activist Jane Fonda, environmentalist David Suzuki and author-activist Naomi Klein leading a march of some 12,000 protesters belonging to a new coalition through downtown streets.
“I think that the coalition that is represented in today’s march and rally … will make a difference.” said Jane Fonda. But isn’t the year 2015 a little late to form a new coalition? Climate change has been a growing problem over 30 years, and Canada still does not have an effective, coordinated environmental effort to fight the biggest crisis in history.
Radicals have their say: Later in the week, a much angrier group of some 200 protesters succeeded for a short time in blocking a lot of high profile delegates to the Climate Summit of the Americas from entering the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. The aggressive small group chanted “Shut down the summit.” After their initial success, they were blocked by dozens of police.
Delegates from 20 countries make an appearance:Inside the Fairmont Royal York, more than 300 delegates from 20 countries were claiming to be urging jurisdictions around the world to come forward with meaningful commitments for carbon reductions to present at the long-anticipated UN Climate Summit in Paris in December.
A news op for politicians: Politicians at the Toronto Summit turned into a news op for political opportunism, with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Environment Minister Glen Murray, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard, and even California Governor Jerry Brown taking turns tearing strips off Stephen Harper.
Big corporations help set agenda: Interestingly, powerful corporations lurked in the background. While politicians take the heat for failing to act effectively on climate change, giant corporations, including Shell’s CEO and the head of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, had already steered the pre-Summit discussions enough to protect their interests.
Delegates sign meaningless statement: At the close of the Toronto Climate Summit, hundreds of delegates signed a non-binding, motherhood statement urging jurisdictions around the world to make carbon-reduction commitments and present them in Paris.
In short, while athletes from the Pan American region were delighting crowds with some wonderful performances, the Climate Summit was, well, a fraud. It was a massive, hugely expensive and cynical public relations stunt – a nice travel perk – for participating politicians.
Mainstream media ‘misinforms’: Unfortunately, mainstream media coverage of the Summit failed to go beyond the speeches. The papers, TV and radio news dutifully reported the politicians’ rants. But a Google search failed to find any mainstream news report that provided any analysis of the event.
Mainstream media must be held largely responsible for the fact that only 50 per cent of Canadians are “extremely” or “definitely” concerned about the climate threat.
If bad reporting on climate change issues confuses the public, so do incorrect statements by poorly informed politicians.
Premier Couillard was an offender at the Toronto Climate Summit. He said Quebec is committing itself “to a very ambitious set of targets with only one objective: to keep warming below or at the maximum 2 degrees Celsius by 2050.”
But sorry Philippe, according to a lot of scientists, keeping the average temperature to 2 degrees Celsius is pretty much impossible.
Here’s what scientists who I trust have to say:
Because of the melting of the icecaps, we’re already on our way to surpassing 2 degrees, says the highly regarded and independent Union of Concerned Scientists. The melting of the icecaps cannot be reversed.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in June that, if governments do not strengthen policies dramatically, the world would be on a path to an average temperature increase of 2.6C by 2100 and 3.5C after 2200.
Yes, this would be catastrophic.
And here we are, poorly informed Canadians, going on with our lives pretty much as usual because — as I have shown here — our environmental groups, politicians, media, and our corporations, will not tell us a) how serious a problem we face, and b) what can an ordinary person do to make a meaningful difference?
It’s impossible to say how massive an effort would be required to keep temperature increases to levels that will allow us to continue living pretty much as we do now. We can only guess.
Dr. Matania Ginosar, a prominent California environmental scientist, says that “only a global effort larger than WWII may be able to save the Earth’s environment from destruction. . . .”
In Paris in December, enormous pressure will be put on many of the 196 countries taking part in the much-anticipated United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21). They will try to come up with some sort of agreement that will allow an orchestrated attack on greenhouse gas emissions starting in 2020.
One serious problem with the UN meetings has been that powerful corporations have used their influence and money to move into a powerful position in the process. So far they have helped prevent the kind of progress required.
In one major way, the Paris Summit is already a failure even before it begins. UN officials involved with the talks are already saying that whatever is accomplished in Paris alone, it will not hold global warming to less than 2 Celsius.
Reflecting back, given the seriousness of the crisis as it is now being described internationally, it is difficult to understand how Toronto’s protests and climate talks were allowed to be so meaningless. These weaknesses, plus deplorable reporting by mainstream media, are responsible for millions of Canadians being poorly informed and not taking the threat of potentially disastrous climate change seriously.
Nick Fillmore is a Toronto freelance journalist and social activist who specializes in issues such as climate change, international finance, and media. A founder of the Canadian Association of Journalists, Nick often writes about issues that are censored or poorly covered by mainstream media. You can visit his blog: nickfillmore.blogspot.com
(Niagara At Large invites all readers who share their real first and last name with their comments to post their comments on this commentary in the space below.)
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Nick
I agree with just about everything you wrote but if one is expecting the CORPORATE owned media to rally in support of climate stability or change then one needs to visit the nearest Psychiatrists. They own the media to stifle dissent and there is few, if any media left , that is independent and conscientious. In most countries they literally own the Governments, especially in those that claim to be DEMOCRACIES and with this control they stifle the will of the people using any and all means in their arsenal of lies, half truths and plain oppression. I shudder when I think of HARPER remaining in control (Notice I said control NOT power) for it is truly the Corporate community that wields the power and corruption.
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Interesting column, Mr Fillmore. It would seem that you trust celebrities & politicians to lead us in the right direction. However, they certainly haven’t led by example:
– Al Gore took so long to mount solar panels (never used wind?) on his mansion that George W Bush outdid him by solar-powering part of his ranch. (Bush also introduced a 30% Renewable Energy USA Tax Credit [matched by most states] that we Don’t have in Canada.)
– Fonda, Klein & Suzuki actually use one of the worst ways to waste carbon -FLYING- to attend these events. Technology has improved so much that flying is rarely needed. A portable Jumbotron would let world leaders appear at many events & talk to us little folk & each other, as we do when talking across the world to our family & friends by using Skype & FaceTime.
– Chrétien signed the 1990 Kyoto Accord. This suckered poor Paul Martin into attacking the Yanks at the Montréal meeting in 2004? for not joining Kyoto. The next day, USA observers at Montréal asked him to explain why non-Kyoto USA was 16% worse than target, while Kyoto Canada was 34% worse.
Our leaders don’t “walk their talk” because they know it will cause Major disruption to their lives and … to ours.
Our leaders are locked into their status symbols and are Not going to do much, if anything. IT’S UP TO US LITTLE FOLK !!!
Personally, I began as a believer in CO2-caused AGW, but am now a sceptic – climate changes but we don’t seem to know enough yet to decide exactly which factors create which changes.
HOWEVER, I’ve installed Renewable Energy on our home to reduce Pollution & do my part (and reduce AGW … just in case). We have:
– Solar Air Heating,
– Solar Attic Cooling
– Solar Electricity
– Wind Electricity.
All of this saves living expenses and provides a return of at least 10% per year after tax – what investment brings that rate of return today? (BTW, do you predict rate decreases … or increases … for Hydro, Natural Gas and Gasoline?)
Until the average person ignores governments and does things themselves, nothing will be done.
What are You doing in Your life to cut air, water & soil pollution, sir?
“If we aren’t part of the solution, we’re part of the problem.”
~Eldridge Cleaver?, Black Panther.
PS. I still drive a car when I could bicycle or walk. Always room to improve, eh? 8=}
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Regarding the Pan Am games, what the event seems to expose is the need for the same sort of high occupancy lanes all the time. This would end the need for the proposed new expressway the GTA West corridor.
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