Check against delivery
On his last visit to Canada in 2002, Pope
John Paul II, who was also a green pope, declared
that [TRANSLATION] “Canadians are heirs to
an extraordinary tradition of humanism enriched
by the combination of many different cultural
elements”. And yes, this humanist tradition
will be honoured by Canada in this new era
of the sustainable economy on which we are
just embarking when the whole of humankind
must display greater solidarity than ever
in order to clean up our relationship with
our planet.
This is what I have come to tell you today
as the Minister of the Environment of Canada
on behalf of our Prime Minister, the Right
Honourable Paul Martin. It gives me particular
pleasure to say this before this international
seminar of la Francophonie on the clean development
mechanism and to welcome you to Montreal.
La Francophonie is a superb model of international
co-operation to which we are proud to belong.
We in Canada are threefold members of the
organization, not just a single member, because
of the participation of the government of
Quebec, and the government of New Brunswick.
La Francophonie has an environmental mission
which it intends to develop.
This is why the intergovernmental agency
of la Francophonie has been directly involved
since the Rio Conference in 1992 in international
efforts to manage natural resources more efficiently.
This is why the Institute for Energy and
the Environment of La Francophonie (IEPF)
has made sustainable development the cornerstone
of its actions.
This is also why the Ouagadougou Summit was
a major step in the evolution of la Francophonie
when it highlighted its theme of “Francophonie:
espace solidaire pour un développement
durable” [Francophonie, showing solidarity
toward sustainable development] with the aim
of making available to the members of la Francophonie
the benefits of development that meets the
needs of today and of the future.
Let me give you an illustration of this.
For several years now, the countries of la
Francophonie have worked together to face
the challenge of climate change. This seminar
on the clean development mechanism is yet
one more example.
Climate change is a vital issue for humanity
in the 21st century, a global problem requiring
a global response. It is only through co-operation
and solidarity that we will succeed in bringing
under control the impact of humankind on the
climate.
We must meet this challenge because, on the
one hand, climate change itself threatens
our ecosystems and is the result of non-sustainable
development. In other words, managing our
influence on the climate will become the yardstick
by which we can determine whether we are on
the road to sustainable development.
On the other hand, however, climate change
is linked to other important questions such
as access to water, the maintenance of healthy
agricultural and forest systems, access to
energy and thus to development. Like me, you
are aware that these questions are absolutely
fundamental for developing countries as much
as, if not more than, for developed countries
like Canada.
So what must we do together in order to reduce
and adapt to extreme climate change brought
about by human activity? That is a challenge
of huge proportions. Everywhere, we need to
accelerate the deployment of existing technologies
and encourage the development of new clean
technologies. This will obviously require
substantial investment. However, the price
is well worth paying. We need a real technological
revolution.
We must focus our efforts on four areas in
particular : energy conservation, energy efficiency,
the development of renewable forms of energy
and, finally, the clean production and use
of fossil fuels such as clean coal and CO2
sinks. It is also essential for us to learn
to get a better grip on our agricultural and
forestry practices. We need to ensure that
the forests are no longer receding and that
desertification is stopped in its tracks,
because it is our forests and our soil that
contribute to the solution by capturing carbon
from the atmosphere. Desertification kills
life,whereas the maintenance of forests and
arable land helps to maintain biodiversity
and the conditions required for human survival.
Thus, the Kyoto Protocol is not only an ecological
imperative designed to mitigate climate change
caused by human activity. Kyoto also provides
an extraordinary opportunity to transform
and improve our economic performance and our
way of life. Kyoto is the first step on a
long road, and efforts will need to be intensified
over the next few decades.
The Government of Canada is determined to
meet its commitments under Kyoto. The Protocol
provides that attainment of objectives for
reducing greenhouse gas emissions and for
sustainable development will require greater
international co-operation. That is why we
have put the Kyoto mechanisms in place.
You are meeting here this week, delegations
from the countries of la Francophonie from
around the world, to discuss ways in which
“the clean development mechanism can serve
as a starting point for the creation of an
effective partnership among the countries
of la Francophonie”.
The clean development mechanism is an exceptional
tool in the Kyoto Protocol. At its best, it
will be an opportunity to facilitate technological
transfer from developed countries to developing
countries. It will allow the developing countries
to build their economies and to increase their
prosperity in a way that respects the climate.
It will make it possible, for example, to
restore agricultural and forest systems, disseminate
renewable forms of energy, improve environmental
performance in the field of transport, industrial
processes and energy generation.
For this to happen, however, the clean development
mechanism must completely live up to its potential.
Canada intends to do its part to ensure that
this happens. As you already know, Prime Minister
Martin announced on the day on which the Kyoto
Protocol came into force that Montreal will
have the honour of hosting the 11th Conference
of the Parties next November. That meeting
will need to lay the foundations for discussions
that will lead to a new international agreement
on climate change.
That meeting will also be an opportunity
to discuss various aspects of the Kyoto Protocol
because it will be the first conference to
take place since it came into force.
The major conference, which I shall have
the honour of chairing, could provide us with
an opportunity to ensure that the international
system of purchasing or trading greenhouse
gas emission credits is effective and sound.
It must include political levers that will
allow the private sector to become fully involved.
It must ensure that market forces and the
resources of the private sector will be applied
to face global climate change. This is particularly
true of the CDM.
It is against this backdrop that I should
like to talk to you briefly about the CDM,
the clean development mechanism, and possible
ways to make it more effective and more efficient.
As defined in article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol,
the clean development mechanism is based,
as you know, on the implementation of projects
that will enable bodies in the public and
private sectors to invest in activities that
reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developing
countries, and to obtain credits in return.
These credits may then be used by the signatories
to the Protocol to attain their own targets
for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, or
they could be sold on the free market.
Projects implemented under the auspices of
the clean development mechanism have a dual
objective. These projects must help to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions while at the same
time contributing to the sustainable development
of the developing country where the project
is implemented.
The CDM must generate substantial investments
in developing countries, especially from the
private sector. The CDM also promotes the
transfer of healthy environmental technologies
to these countries.
The clean development mechanism is, of course,
an impressive economic and environmental tool,
and its implementation can make a tangible
contribution to reduce poverty in developing
countries.
The clean development mechanism is a marvelous
example of international co-operation, a promising
initiative that will allow us to attain our
objectives in terms of emission reductions
and sustainable economic development. We must
spare no effort to ensure that the clean development
mechanism is a success. It is in all our interests
to do so.
Since the implementation of the CDM, I have
heard a number of positive comments about
its use and importance. However, as things
currently stand, the mechanism is not used
in the best possible way. We can and we must
do better. I should like to take this opportunity
to tell you my ideas on possible ways to make
it more efficient and effective.
Indeed, representatives of industry, project
promoters, investors and some host-country
governments have recently identified a number
of problems in the way the mechanism works.
We therefore need to focus on the Executive
Council. At this time, and since the Marrakech
agreements, the members of the Executive Council
are and have been elected on the basis of
regional representation. As a result, the
Executive Council is a political body. It
is possible, therefore, that the members of
the Council do not always have the necessary
technical expertise.
So could we not, for example, provide the
organization with an Executive Council made
up exclusively of full-time professionals?
We must also ensure that the mechanism has
all the resources required for the optimum
performance of its functions. In my view,
current funding of the organization seems
inadequate. We must examine the possibility
of increasing government contributions.
We must also take measures to improve the
interaction and communication among project
promoters and the Methodological Panel (MP),
the committee that determines the methods
used to approve projects.
Presently, the panel’s decision-making process
takes place behind closed doors. It often
happens that the projects put forward by promoters
are rejected and they are not told why. Furthermore,
cases of inconsistency in the decision-making
process have been noted. For example, of two
virtually identical projects, one was accepted
and the other was not. We should therefore
look at adopting measures to improve the transparency
of the process.
Under the Marrakech agreements, the process
of approving projects and methodologies should
in principle take only four months. Yet some
projects have waited up to 16 months for approval.
The decision-making process must be made more
effective. We must ensure that the members
of the methodology panel are more sensitive
to the commercial constraints that project
promoters are under.
We should also encourage increased involvement
in the methodology panel by representatives
of developing countries and by experts from
the business community. At present, most of
the panel’s members come from developed countries
and are not always aware of the realities
of the problems that exist only in developing
countries.
We could also create a Business Advisory
Panel, to strengthen the links among the various
parties. I am convinced that greater interaction
among all the parties would be beneficial
for the working of the mechanism as a whole.
That is just some food for thought that I
should like to offer the participants in this
International seminar of la Francophonie on
the clean development mechanism. I look forward
to seeing the results of the deliberations
of a group of experts such as this.
You may be sure that the results of your
work could benefit all countries, because
climate change knows no boundaries. Our entire
planet needs a mechanism that works effectively
and optimally and it needs it soon.
The clean development mechanism is essential
for the success of our development objectives;
but this mechanism can and must be improved.
As you go about your work, I repeat, you
can count on Canada. The Government of Canada
is determined to meet its commitments for
the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
and to co-operate with all the international
bodies that are involved.
Concerted effort is required if we do not
want to mortgage the future of our children
and leave them with a substantial environmental
debt as their inheritance. The longer we wait,
the more likely it is that the situation cannot
be turned around. It is not just our future
that is at stake, it is everyone`s future.
Thank you for your attention. I wish you
a productive seminar. Thank you.
On the occasion of the Seminar of the “Institut
de l’énergie et de l’environment de
la Francophonie”
“The Clean Development Mechanism”
Hyatt Regency Hotel
Speech delivered by the
Hon. Stéphane Dion P.C., M.P., Minister
of the Environment
