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Founder of the G20: Put climate change on the agenda
The Right Honourable Paul Martin made a visit to Toronto yesterday to deliver a speech to the Empire Club and to engage in a frank discussion later in the evening at the University of Toronto – both centred on the role of the G8 and G20.
Posted by Zoë Caron
Muskoka and Toronto will play host to the respective summits this month. WWF is following the Summits closely and working to keep climate change high on the agendas (See wwf.ca/g8g20 for more information).
Mr. Martin began his speech describing the measures by which the success of the G20 should be judged: “What I’d like to do is to highlight three issues that are in the forefront of global concern as Canada and Korea set the agenda for this year’s meetings. They are: global poverty, climate change and the global banking crisis.”
He continued, “On most questions, what is important are the signals the G20 sends to the world’s negotiating tables. In the case of climate change, this meant Copenhagen where suffice it to say the wrong signals were clearly sent.”
“The next climate change meeting will be held in Mexico next November-December. However before then, there will be the two G20 summits. It is crucial therefore that … the G20 in June send out the proper signals now so that the climate change meeting has a chance to succeed.”
Mr. Martin brought all three of these issues together as issues of complexity that are needing to be addressed by the leaders in our world:
“The world’s new steering committee came into being because the world has changed. Its members are members because they have power and position, but they also have responsibilities, responsibilities they must live up to. In short G20 multilateralism must mean more than a camouflaged concern only for one’s national interests. This is true in the case of global poverty. It is true in the case of climate change and it is every bit as true in the case of [the global banking crisis].
“I have touched on the litmus test for the G20 with reference to [these] three examples. In each case, the jury remains out but the grounds for optimism are there. [A constant] that cannot be ignored if the G20 is to succeed… is the trade-off between generations. This of course is most evident when addressing climate change.
“…Canada’s representatives should not be diverted into spending all their public time speaking about what the G20 must not do, they should speak unequivocally and with force about what it must do! [It is] true in terms of climate change, especially when the President of Mexico whose country is trying to rekindle the momentum lost after Copenhagen came to Canada only a week ago and asked us to show the requisite leadership.”
Later in the evening, Mr. Martin was asked how he expects the G20 to have the ability to deal with more complex issues, such as climate change and poverty.
His answer was simple: “I don’t think the complexity is a problem… The fundamental issue is that these are complex issues and they have to be dealt with. I mean, if the G20 can’t deal with them, who else?
“We have no choice. We have to go help. We got to be able to deal with them.”
He continued to discuss the role of leadership within the G20 and how it is essential to discuss the issue of climate change at this high level meeting because of the ability leaders have to negotiate between countries as a whole – and that cannot happen in other forums. He also noted the role of leaders in sending a signal of movement to the rest of the world.
Mr. Martin – as former Prime Minister of Canada, former Finance Minister of Canada, and father of the G20 – is one of many distinguished individuals who have recently called for climate change to be on the G8 and G20 agendas. Others include Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, Felipe Calderon, President of Mexico (host of the next United Nations climate talks), and Jose Manuel Barroso, European Union Commission President.
And most importantly, the Canadian public has recently voiced its opinion in a recent poll, showing that global warming is the top issue of concern that should be on the G8 and G20 agendas. The time for Canadian leadership as host to the G8 and G20 Summits is now.
The Right Honourable Paul Martin with climate policy advisor Zoe Caron, Toronto, June 2010 (c) Zoe Caron / WWF-Canada
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