Toronto Mayor, David Miller, accepting the Fossil of the Day Award. (Photo: Stephanie Levy)
In this update from Copenhagen, Stephanie Levy speaks to the intense criticism Canada has come under for our positions in the COP15 climate change negotiations, both on the home front and on the international stage. She also shares her hope based on what political leaders at the municipal and provincial levels are doing despite our national positions:
The past few days have been incredibly interesting, albeit frustrating. As the whole world knows, Canada has been doing its best to obstruct a fair and ambitious deal. I was in the Conference Centre on Friday night when Canada won both first and second place fossil awards. But when Toronto Mayor, David Miller, stepped up to accept the award, saying that he came as an embarrassed Canadian, I felt hope. Vancouver Mayor, Gregor Robertson, was in our office Monday morning for an interview and said: “As a country, Canada has been despicable with carbon emissions. We need to change that.”
Having met both of these Mayors, who are here for the Copenhagen Climate Summit for Mayors, and having the chance to discuss their plans for climate action, my patriotism remains intact. We have good people working at a municipal level who are acting regardless of what the national government does. We have good people working on a provincial level too – Ontario and Quebec have lambasted Harper on his stance, and both provinces, along with British Columbia, have created their own targets separate from the 3% below 1990 level target that the Canadian government is currently pushing.
The Globe and Mail conducted a survey that found that 75% of Canadians are embarrassed by our country’s inaction on climate change, and a vote in the House of Commons revealed that the majority of our Members of Parliament believe we need to take a stronger stance on climate action.
Protestors have been filling the streets on a daily basis here in Copenhagen, many of whose signs are anti-Canadian. It’s unfortunate, but the majority of the people here associate us with the tar sands. We’re creating a new Canadian identity, and it’s a far cry from the affable syrup sucking Castor canadensis of the past.
Anti-Canada protest at COP15. (Photo: Stephanie Levy)
Anti-tar sands protest inside the conference centre at COP15. (Photo: Stephanie Levy)
Having the chance to sit in on the events at Copenhagen has been eye-opening. It’s one thing to read about climate change refugees, it’s quite another to meet them. The other day I had the privilege of hearing the lead negotiator for Tuvalu, a small island nation, try to hold back his tears as he said, “I woke up this morning crying, and that’s not easy for a grown man to admit. The fate of my country rests in your hands.” The reality of what this conference really means hits in those moments. It’s so easy, too easy, not to take these issues seriously. But I defy anyone to look into the eyes of that man as he spoke those words and not want to change the world if only to save him.
I have to admit that as an ardent environmentalist, I am guilty of many an environmental faux-pas. I can only chalk it up to laziness. Like the politicians here, I am intelligent, and when I commit these transgressions I do so with the knowledge that there is a more sustainable option. I suppose that I’m not alone in this boat. And I suppose that makes it worse, because what kind of message does that send? Why is it not worth the extra money to buy something that wasn’t made by a child overseas, that wasn’t grown a million miles away, sprayed, injected, and shipped here, that wasn’t made with materials that are meant to be disposable. Why do I not use my dollars as voting cards every time I pay for something, to support those things that are equitably traded, organically grown, or built with integrity?
Yesterday everyone was asked to make a pledge to take back home from Copenhagen. Mine is this: I will never use money as an excuse not to buy the better option again. I don’t ever expect to be affluent, but I make enough to put a roof over my head, to feed myself and the ones that I love, and to live a rich life full of family, friends, and wonderful experiences. Can I afford to make the right choice? Yes, I can. And if I can, you can. It’s that simple. You face these options every day. Which will you choose?
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jessicamnagy
Hi Brian,
Thanks for writing, and great thoughts! I agree that it’s pretty difficult to lead a flawless environmental life (indeed, I wouldn’t be travelling to these international conferences if I was!). But I realized in Copenhagen that my situation allows me to make the right choices most of the time, and that I should exercise my consumer power to mirror how money can be spent in a positive way. I’m happy you brought this up, because I feel I was a little vague in my blog. There are many who are not in the same situation as me, many who are living in energy poverty, or have little access to good, healthy food or sustainable products, or who simply cannot afford those options. The system that allows this has to change.
What I felt, what I was trying to express, was that when faced with a choice between products, I often placed myself in that category of not being able to afford it. It’s been my experience that a lot of us do that, especially those of us in the not-for-profit category who may be in a lower earnings bracket than others. But the simple truth is that a lot more of us can than care to admit, or realize. It may mean less of something else, or making adjustments, but we are able to. For us, it’s a choice, for others, it isn’t. And, for now, I’ll try my best to walk to the walk while trying to change policy and consumer patterns.
I believe that if we expect our governments, corporations, and organizations to act in a certain way, we must do the same. To revisit an oldie but a goodie, we have to be the change; we cannot demand what we ourselves don’t adopt. And this certainly plays along with what you speak about, which is active engagement. The more people inform themselves, become involved, and take action, the better off we’ll all be!
Steph
Hi Brian,
Thanks for your thought-provoking post. Too often, people feel hopeless in tackling and helping solve global problems such as environmental degradation, social justice issues, economic inequalities, and human rights violations. There are different forms of activism that can inspire change at a broader level. How do we measure impact? We at Evergreen feel that as individuals, every little bit helps, whether it’s through purchase decisions made relative to your purchasing power, employing conservation mechanisms at home, growing your own food or planting native species – however, the real power lies in building community. If we can inspire individuals to reach out to each other and get engaged on a particular issue, that builds a community of people that will have a lot more impact than individuals doing their respective parts.
With respect to the issue you’ve addressed – where and how do you make sacrifices in your activism? The difficulty today, is the more knowledge we have about global issues, the harder we have it as consumers, as our purchasing decisions can become statements of our beliefs. However, realistically, we all have to make compromises or trade-offs somewhere. So if your sneakers got you to that conference and a community of people came together and discussed relevant issues that inspire action – all the power to all of you!
It is important for all us to get informed, to share that information with others and continue to build communities that inspire action. Only then can we help tackle the bigger issues. Good luck!
Hi,
It’s great that you were able to be at the Copenhagen talks – Identifying directly with people most affected by climate change is an important part of creating our own individual mandates for how we feel we should best live our lives.
I wanted to share something I recently learned. While buying power is an important way to force change in the consumer system, and in a consumer-capitalist system we are often defined by the way we spend our money, I should not feel guilt or pressure to always be a flawless environmentalist in everything I buy and do. Many poor communities, even those that are affected by environmental issues and wish to change them, can often not afford to buy the most environmentally-friendly products, or do not have access to environmentally sane services. It is, in fact, the consumer-capitalist system that is flawed and needs to be gradually evolved.
So while I do my best to work within the system and use my buying power to reflect my philosophies, I’m not going to give up because I occasionally need to make concessions – my cheap nikes walked me to an environmental justice conference this weekend, and my hp computer allows me to communicate with other activists to share knowledge. I wont spend too much time reducing water consumption in my house if I could affect more change by standing in solidarity with protesters opposing privatisation of water resources in my community.
Just as long as I remember that those concessions contribute less to the propagation of the system, and more to my ultimate goal of making positive change in the system.
I hope I don’t sound preachy, I just wanted to share that with activists who sometimes feel overwhelmed trying to stay forest-green in a paper-green society.
peace!