Letter to the Editor

Ratifying Kyoto

June 18, 2002

We are appalled by the stance taken by some of the participants at the Western Premiers Conference held in Dawson City two weeks ago. For Premier Ralph Klein of Alberta to be concerned that ratifying Kyoto might hurt Alberta based industries is the height of provincial insularism. Climate change will affect Albertans as much as it will affect the rest of Canada.

Premier Duncan’s Yukon government seems to be sitting on the fence when it comes to the idea of actually ratifying the Kyoto Protocol and implementing measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Yukon could benefit greatly from economic opportunities associated with non-fossil fuel energy development. We will be greatly harmed by short-term fossil fuel developments and long-term climate change.

Both YCS and CPAWS Yukon are convinced by the scientific evidence that human-induced climate change is real and will have potentially catastrophic impacts on nature and biodiversity, not to mention huge social and economical implications. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported in 2001 with high confidence that there will likely be “significant disruption of ecosystems under climate change.”

In March 2002, a review in the prestigious scientific journal Nature concluded that ecosystems are already being affected by climate change, and that there is “ample evidence” of the ecological impacts of recent climate change, from polar terrestrial to tropical marine environments. Flowering times of plants are changing, birds are arriving at their nesting sites earlier, and northern pack ice is melting, preventing polar bears from hunting during critical times when they are feeding their young.

We believe that action must be taken now to curb emissions and to begin to control the magnitude of global change that will be faced in the future. We observe with grave concern the federal government’s apparent backing away from its commitment to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

Our groups are calling on the Prime Minister to respect the clear support that Canadians have shown for ratification of the Kyoto Protocol as a first step in addressing climate change. The Government of Canada has a mandate to act. We are calling on the Prime Minister to hold fast to his government’s original plan to ratify Kyoto before the 10th anniversary of the Earth Summit in August.

Signed