Nobel Prize Goes to Al Gore and IPCC: A Huge Wake-Up Call for Canada

"This is excellent news," said Greenpeace Canada spokesperson Joslyn Higginson. "This prize, and the incredible attention it adds to this issue, will only bring greater pressure to bear on nations like Canada and the United States, which are delinquent in the global fight against climate change - particularly as we approach the critical Kyoto negotiations in Bali this December, under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC)."

According to Greenpeace, the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Gore and the IPCC also rings alarm bells for the Government of Canada. According to the  Throne Speech on October 16, Prime Minister Harper claims that Canada's Kyoto commitments cannot be met. "While the entire world is applauding the efforts and accomplishments of Mr. Gore and the IPCC in combating climate change, the Harper government is playing petty politics with the biggest threat of our time - this prime minister is becoming more and more isolated on this issue."

This is all the more disturbing in the context of Mr. Gore's characterization of the fight against climate change as a moral and ethical challenge, not a political one. "Here, as everywhere, climate change is a moral and ethical question that can only be met with leadership and resolve," Higginson added. "That is exactly where Canada is falling short."

Last April 27, Mr. Gore, author of the award-winning book and documentary An Inconvenient Truth, criticized the Harper-Baird climate change plan, released a few days earlier. At the time, Mr. Gore blasted the Conservatives' new policy as a "complete and total fraud.... designed to mislead the Canadian people" and urged Canadians to increase pressure on their government. The Harper-Baird plan was the source of additional outcry internationally. "International recognition for Mr. Gore and the IPCC only brings the inadequacies of the Harper-Baird plan into starker relief, underscoring the bankruptcy of their schemes and petty politics, which are underminig public interest and confidence."