Hi Friend,
Today is Giving Tuesday - during the next 24 hours, people around the world will come together to participate in a global day of giving. This felt like the right day to share my reflections on another global event I just attended - the COP 27 international climate talks held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The climate crisis is a global one, and it requires global solutions.
Mike with fellow panelists at a COP27 side event hosted by Equiterre
These climate talks are an opportunity to bring forward Green science-based solutions, to collaborate with like-minded Parliamentarians from around the world, and to advocate for more ambition in these negotiations.
While our Green Caucus works hard on climate advocacy at home and abroad, we need your support to be able to have more of an impact – and to bring more Greens into the fold.
The Canadian PM didn’t attend. Maybe because the Liberals haven’t followed through on promises he made at last year’s climate negotiations, and in the time since has approved new fossil fuel infrastructure and new subsidies for the oil and gas industry? The UN Secretary General recently called actions like these “moral and economic madness”.
That is why it is so important that the Green Party of Canada is at the table. As a part of the official Canadian delegation to COP, I joined Greens from around the world pushing for more ambition before we run out of time to avoid the worst impacts of climate breakdown.
So what were the results of COP27?
On the positive side there was a landmark agreement for countries like ours to commit to establishing a fund for countries in the Global South disproportionately experiencing losses and damages as a result of the climate crisis. This decision is a much needed expression of global solidarity, and recognition that there must be justice for the Global South when we discuss the climate crisis. Elizabeth and I have been advocating in support, and this win is one worth celebrating!
On the other hand, global efforts to have a fossil fuel phase out included in the final decision failed. While Minister Guilbeault claims to have supported a weakened version of this text at the last minute (when it was already clear it would fail), back home his colleague Jonathan Wilkinson told the House that the “global shift to a low-carbon future can be accomplished without phasing out Canada’s oil and gas sector.” This all might explain why the Liberal government accepted bids for more oil exploration off the coast of Newfoundland while I was at COP.
Let’s be clear: the Liberals simply aren’t serious when it comes to climate, and they’re playing Russian roulette with our kid’s future.
Any credible climate change plan requires us to tackle the cause of the crisis: fossil fuels. In Canada, this means swiftly closing the oil and gas tap and supporting workers to thrive in the economy of the future.
That’s our only chance to hold on to warming of no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius – the maximum climate scientists tell us would prevent the worst effects of runaway climate chaos. Without swift action and strong political mobilization, this goal will slip further out of reach.
I’m often asked if I still have hope. Well, in my view, hope is an action.
With your help this Giving Tuesday, we will continue to advocate for science-based climate action that gives us a chance at a livable planet. We will push for an immediate end to all fossil fuel subsidies, and redirecting funding to a just transition for workers and renewable energy projects.
If enough of us take to the streets, tell our MPs what we think, and speak out in our own communities, there’s still a window for us to turn this around. And these actions are what move us in the right direction.
On this Giving Tuesday join us. Turn your hope into action.
Thank you for all that you do, Greens!
Mike Morrice
MP Kitchener Centre