Harper: Developing countries must shoulder more carbon cuts.

Harper is hopeless as far as environmental policy is concerned. It is the developed countries that have for years brought us to the environmental crisis we now face and enjoyed the high standard of living (or consumption and waste) that has gone along with unchecked industrial development. Now it is the developing countries that are to bear the brunt of the solution. Obviously Harper could care less how arrogant this must seem to developing countries. As long as George Bush smiles at his Canadian buddy all is well I guess.
It is unlikely that developing countries will sign on to anything presented to them by the likes of George Bush and Stephen Harper. The next president of the U.S. will likely not be quite as bad as Bush so we might see some slight improvement in the position of Harper within a year or so. However, it is a mathematical certainty that Harper will not be a world leader in environmental policy.



Harper adds it up: developing countries must shoulder more carbon cuts
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 9, 2008
CBC News
As the Group of Eight summit wrapped up in northern Japan on Wednesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said it's a "mathematical certainty" that developing countries will bear the brunt of the work in lowering global greenhouse gas emissions.
His comments to reporters in the resort town of Toyako came as several developing countries reportedly balked at climate change targets proposed by the G8 countries the previous day.
The major industrial countries represented by the G8 set a goal Tuesday to halve emissions that contribute to global warming by 2050, though no international baseline year was set and the plan lacked midterm goals.
Harper said that by 2050, developed nations will likely account for no more than 20 per cent of global carbon emissions.
"So, when we say we need participation by developing countries, this is not a philosophical position. This is a mathematical certainty," he told Canadian reporters at a news conference Wednesday.
"You can't get a 50 per cent cut from 20 per cent of emissions."
Slowing rate might suffice
The prime minister points out that doesn't mean emerging economies will need to cut their carbon output; slowing the rate by which their emissions grow might suffice.
"I don't think the argument that we should do more if others are not doing anything at all will be a very credible argument that will get anybody very far," he said.
"It's an interesting argument, but it can't be made by those who aren't doing anything. So I think the pressure will be on them to do something."
But developing countries appear uneasy with proposed targets set out by G8 leaders.
A Japanese official told reporters that five developing nations — China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa — rejected targets at a U.S.-brokered meeting between developed and developing countries on Wednesday.