Oops, we did it again.

During this June’s meeting in Bonn, your Canadian tracker is back in Sweden (for mundane things, really, like finishing my undergraduate degree).  I keep on reading Bonn updates to see if our Canadian Delegation decided to put its best position forward.  Maybe, I dared to hope, my role as tracker will become obsolete for Bonn II because of all the major political events since last intersessional like the World’s Peoples Conference on Climate Change and the British Petroleoum Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

But Canada’s jurassic climate policy is triumphant yet still in Bonn.  The Delegation’s stance this June is essentially the exact same as it was in April, and the Fossil Award given to Canada by the Climate Action Network is for essentially the exact same reason:

Canada earns a first place Fossil of the Day for reducing its mitigation commitment after Copenhagen to the same level pledged by the United States of America. This January, Canada scrapped a 2020 target equivalent to 3% below 1990 in favour of one equivalent to 3% above 1990, using the rationale of following the U.S. Canada is endangering progress on post-Copenhagen targets by acting like the 51st U.S. state.

There is much more good news happening back home.  In preparation to host the G8/G20 Summit in Huntsville, the Climate Action Network Canada and the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition are hard at work.  The outcome of the G8/G20 conference will have a strong impact on Canada’s position at the UNFCCC (although the Government seems committed to keeping climate change off the G20 agenda).  So in the name of a little Canadian pride, here are two groups to watch and link up with during this June’s G8/G20 Summit:

G8/G20 Action June 25th-27th

• The Canadian Youth Climate Coalition.  Read about the CYCC’s nation-wide engagement strategy here.  They have all sorts of creative and fun campaigns going on like At the Table (to help Canadians “take their place” alongside world leaders at the G8/G20), the G20 Pledge, or  the G20 Convergence.
• Climate Action Network Canada.  CAN-Canada is the premier source of information and mobilization around all things climate change.  Their website has lots of information about both the UNFCCC and the G20 from a broad range of Canadian NGOs.

Do you know of any other good events to watch back home?  Any ideas on how to make environmental justice and sustainability a priority for the Federal Government?  Any good websites or organizations to check out?  Please add any more info in the comments below!

With love from Lund.

Joanna