Toronto, Ontario
December 5, 2007
Thank you. Well, thank you very much for that kind introduction. I'm excited to be here at the Economic Club. I think it was about a year and a half since I last spoke or last attended an Economic Club luncheon so I'm pleased to be here again.The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, has called global warming "the defining challenge of our age." And I think that sums it up quite well. This past year we've had four huge reports come forward from the United Nations who build on the huge amount of scientific work which has taken place for so many years around the world.The reports have made it very clear that it's undeniable that the planet is warming and that human activity is contributing to that reality. It also said that climate change is real and it can be seen on every continent and in every ocean on every part of the planet. Here in Canada, we can see the effects of climate change. Winters don't come as they used to; they're much warmer -- maybe not today. But in British Columbia the winters don't come as they used to and we've lost huge swaths of forest from the pine beetle which has devastated not just the environment but industry and jobs. Up in the Arctic in a place called Inuvik we've had a school which has actually come off its foundation because the permafrost is melting. Decades now, decades of science has told us it's time for people around this planet and for governments around the world to act. Greenhouse gases have gone up. They continue to go up, way up, each and every year and it's our challenge, the challenge of our generation to get them to go down.I met with two lead scientists from the United Nations, Canadians -- they're now Nobel laureates -- this past February. And after the first UN report came out, I sat down with them and was briefed and talked to them about them. And I turned to the more learned one and said, "This is a report," the first one was a report to policy makers written in plain English for folks like myself. And I said to them, "What would you do if you were me?" And he paused for a moment and then a second moment and then said, "I'd do two things. One, cultural change. We've got to change the way we live. And, two, technology."And really, that's pretty much the entire solution right there. Cultural change, the dozens and dozens of decisions we make each and every day on how we live our lives and technology to enable those decisions to be easier personally, commercially, industrially and in the public sector. And I couldn't agree more with this scientist.The Kyoto Protocol was signed 10 years ago this December. And what it really represented was a 10-year marathon to reduce greenhouse gases around the world. But when the starting pistol of that marathon went off, Canada began to run in the opposite direction under the previous government. Today, some 25, 30 days before the reporting period kicks in on January 1st, 2008, we are 32.9 percent above our Kyoto target.To put that in context, there was a recent election in Australia and the new Labour government, the new Labour Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has committed and now signed the Kyoto Protocol. Australia's only one percent above its target. That puts the challenge that we have in this country into perspective.I can't and our government can't take responsibility for the last 10 years but Canadians are demanding that our prime minister, that this minister and our government take responsibility for the next 10 years and we do so. We have a plan and a national goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020 for our country. That's an absolute reduction of 20 percent in 13 years. It's not going to be easy; it's going to be difficult. But we are committed to this national goal, to this target.For the first time ever, our government will be regulating the big polluters to require them to reduce in absolute terms their greenhouse gases. That's 18 percent by 2010 and then a constant improvement each and every year of two percent. We think an intensity-based approach that breaks the back of growing emissions, that can see emissions stabilized as early as 2010 or as late as 2012. We'll have a huge number of compliance mechanisms to enable business to meet these tough goals.The centrepiece is a Technology Fund going back to the advice we received from this Nobel laureate. We want to establish a carbon market in this country, an offset system. And we want to use the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanisms where companies can buy credits from high level, blue chip opportunities that are regulated by the United Nations. This is the centerpiece but it's by no means all. We're taking real initiatives in transportation. We'll soon be coming forward with a discussion paper to talk about new mandatory, not voluntary, standards for automobiles. We'd like to see a Clean Auto Pact between Canada and the United States. We have an integrated market between our two countries and we don't want to see jobs move from Canada to the United States and if we move together with the United States we can go farther faster and have a twin impact on reducing smog and pollution in our country. We're working also with the rail sector, the marine and air sector to reduce greenhouse gases there too. We're working hard in the energy sector on energy efficiency, on conservation, on renewable power, on biofuels and ethanol. We have some world leading technology in this country. There's a company in Ottawa, Iogen Corporation, which produces ethanol, synthetic ethanol, cellulosic ethanol and that does it in the most environmentally friendly way and the recent budget was able to provide almost $200 million to make this fully commercially available in this country. We're working hard with the provinces. For the first time ever the federal government is actively engaged working with the provinces providing funding to support initiatives to fight global warming and greenhouse gases. Some of the innovative and exciting projects are a Hydrogen Highway in British Columbia to connect with the Hydrogen Highway that one of your earlier speakers, Governor Schwarzenegger, has championed in California. And this would in time for the 2010 Olympics.Working on carbon capture and storage in Alberta. I visited western Canada the other day and we've actually got commercially deployable technology that's working today, taking pure carbon and sequestering it deep inside the earth and also helping enhanced oil recovery. So it's a win-win for business and the environment. We're working hard on tidal power in the Maritimes and that's good news. And here in Ontario we've provided $585 million to help Ontario close its dirty coal-fired electricity plants or to convert them into cleaner burning fuels. This will help also with the national electricity grid between Ontario and Manitoba to harness the untapped potential of hydro power in northern Manitoba. This is the first time ever the provinces have received financial support and that's good news. Earlier this week, the world began to meet in Indonesia and ministers from around the world will join those discussions next week to launch negotiations on the post-2012 protocol. We want to be clear that we support, Canada supports mandatory binding targets for all the big polluters around the world. But in Canada we're still blessed and being a leader, leadership means going first. That's why the Government of Canada has committed a 20 percent reduction by 2020 before these talks have even begun.If I could ask for the first chart, this gives us the chart of business as usual in the world. This is if no action is taken from 2004, greenhouse gases will skyrocket. You can see the small line there representing Canada's contribution to greenhouse gases. We're a small part but we've got to do our part to beat this challenge. But we can't do it alone. We need to get all major emitters onboard committed to stabilizing and reducing greenhouse gases as well.If Canada, the United States, Australia and every Kyoto country with binding targets were to eliminate all of their greenhouse gases by the year 2050, a hundred percent reduction in manmade greenhouse gases, this is what the chart would look like. Greenhouse gases almost doubling is not a policy that the Government of Canada or that the people of Canada can support. That's why we feel so strongly that all major emitters must be aboard -- countries like the United States, our major trading partner and the growing economies and big emitters, China and India. We will not tackle this problem of global warming and climate change unless we get everyone aboard, everyone with an oar in the water and everyone rowing together.That's why it's essential we work at this conference to bring other countries aboard. But let me be clear: Canada can afford to do more and can afford to do more faster than developing countries. So it doesn't have to be a one-size-fits-all solution but everyone's got to be going in the same direction down the right road.I want to give two examples of what could happen if we don't get these big emitters aboard. I see a bunch of representatives from the Power Workers and Ontario Power Generation here. We could close down our coal-fired generating station in Lambton, Ontario with about 2,000 megawatts of power and simply import dirty, coal-fired generation from Michigan. In doing so, we will have only accomplished one thing: a huge and substantial increase in the price of electricity for our manufacturing sector in Ontario. The greenhouse gases will be the same. The smog and pollution will be the same because it will come from another country. We could close down one of the big steel companies in this province and simply buy the steel from China with just as much greenhouse gas emissions, if not more, being emitted. And we won't have solved the problem. We won't have addressed the problem. It will continue to get just -- continue to go in the wrong direction. That's why it's essential that we get all countries aboard.I mentioned earlier that Australia recently ratified -- just this week in fact -- the Kyoto Protocol and they've got one percent reduction. The new Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, has been very clear and very specific that all major emitters have to come to the table if Australia is to participate in the next round post-2012. So we'll have an important ally with this new prime minister.Canadaand other developed countries can afford to do more and we're committed to doing more.Canadawill work at this conference towards a successful conclusion in Indonesia. Our country's broad position going into the conference are clear and based on four -- three points. I'll go to slide four. The world must come together and agree to launch negotiations on a post-2012 agreement next week in Indonesia.There must be an agreement on what the building blocks are for a future agreement.And there must be an agreement for an end date to these negotiations. They cannot go on forever and Canada will be pushing for an end date of 2009 -- just two short years from now.Let me repeat these points in French.Canada will do everything in its power for the conclude of the conference in Indonesia. Our country's position going into the meeting is clear and based on three fundamental points.The world must come together and agree to launch negotiations on an agreement for the post-2012 period. There must be an agreement on what the building blocks are for a future agreement. And there must be general agreement on an end date for the negotiations, and Canada thinks that 2009 was the right year.These goals are also shared by Yvo de Boer, the Executive Director of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Canada will also be represented in the talks in Indonesia by a number of provincial ministers including the Honourable John Gerretsen from here in Ontario. We were also this week pleased to announce the appointment of four eminent Canadians to accompany the Canadian delegation and provide me and the other leaders with advice and counsel on how we can move forward on a successful protocol.The Honourable Pierre-Marc Johnson, a former Premier of Quebec, and an incredibly well-respected environmentalist will help up this panel. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, a Canadian and former head of the United Nations Environmental Program will be part of the team as will Ian Morton, the founder of the Clean Air Foundation, someone who has developed clear and specific and practical solutions to fighting both greenhouse gases and smog and pollution. And, finally, Mary Simon, a key Aboriginal leader representing the Inuit community. We have a mandate to provide -- they have a mandate to provide independent advice from their different background and experience in policy, law, business, First Nations and Arctic issues. And that is good news.Our goals in Indonesia are further espoused by a number of key principles that were set out by our prime minister. Any long-term post-2012 agreement must include the major emitting countries like China, like India and the United States. It must be fair and it must be economically realistic without placing unfair burdens on any one country. It must be long term and it must be flexible and it must have a balanced approach that preserves economic growth and protects the environment. Set out clearly, we need all major emitters onboard. And that is absolutely essential in the fight against global warming.This will be the agenda that Canada takes to these important conferences -- this important conference. The planet cannot be let down. We must succeed for the sake our children and our children's children and Canada is committed to playing a constructive and effective role in these international negotiations.Thank you very much. Merci beaucoup.
