“What Was Said”
Summary of Canada's CSD-14 Consultations
On March 21 and 22, 2006, Foreign Affairs Canada conducted consultations on the paper “Canada and the 14th Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD): Issues and Ideas.” 1 Three consultation sessions were devoted to hearing the ideas of the private sector, civil society, and the provinces, and a dialogue with Aboriginals constituted a fourth session. What follows is a brief summary of the main points made during these sessions.
Development
It was noted that energy was absent from the policy and program priorities of both CIDA and Export Development Canada, given the importance of access to energy services for development it was suggested that these organizations explore a mechanism to link energy to efforts to alleviate poverty and meet Millennium Development Goals. The Group of 77 is looking to economic and industrial development as a means of poverty alleviation, and development of domestic energy resources, including hydrocarbons, has a positive role to play.
Provincial representatives support a balanced approach to the energy mix, inclusive of hydrocarbons, renewables, nuclear, and non-conventional hydrocarbon sources such as oil sands.
Industry representatives felt that the consultation paper was overly focussed on renewable energy and did not reflect the reality that hydrocarbons will continue to dominate the energy mix for some time to come, nor that nuclear power will grow in importance. In terms of renewable energy, they noted that the role of hydroelectricity was understated, with no mention of new sites that could be developed in Canada and abroad. There was debate on the merits of some renewable energies and technologies, such as ethanol and methane, which, it could be argued, are not necessarily net energy sources, but also recognition that some energy sources will be supported for reasons other than their strong contribution to energy supply (e.g., benefits related to emissions, climate change, etc.). Industry representatives also noted that the energy industry is diversifying; for example, a natural gas provider may source gas from landfill (methane) interliquid fuels and multifuel gasification that includes organics.
In contrast, civil society and Aboriginal participants observed that Canada has not been very strong in the uptake of renewables, and that the consultation paper regards all components of the energy mix as equal and does not promote renewables strongly enough. It was noted that renewables are the least contentious in the energy mix, and should be pulled out from the other sources and emphasized. Civil society participants called for systematic follow-up on the many international commitments to increase the share of renewables in the mix (e.g., those arising from the Beijing International Renewable Energy Conference, 2005 ), recognizing that this may be more pertinent to CSD-15. The suggestion was made that small-scale local infrastructure and micro-management of energy services is preferable for new communities being developed in Canada and for development projects abroad where large-scale grids are not possible. Clean coal technologies were initially challenged, but following discussion there was general agreement that hydrocarbons will remain important in the near term, particularly in fast-developing economies, making clean technologies an important focus right now. Aboriginal participants were adamant that nuclear power is not a viable option, particularly for developing countries, citing concerns about appropriate disposal of nuclear waste.
With respect to climate change, Aboriginal participants asked for a greater emphasis on adaptation, highlighting Canada's considerable work in this area. Linkages could be made to work being done by the provinces and through networks such as ArcticNet.
A good deal of the dialogue with Aboriginals centred on the perceived disconnect between Canada's efforts with indigenous peoples abroad and at home. Aboriginals in Canada would like to benefit from the experience, expertise, and interest demonstrated overseas, but they can not get access to it. They also pointed out that across the circumpolar North there are many indigenous peoples that are not recognized as such because they do not belong to a developing country. They recommended thinking in the broader terms of “indigenous peoples” rather than the restrictive “indigenous peoples in developing countries.” Reference here to a group such as the Arctic Council, which engages Aboriginal expertise/opinion across nations, would be pertinent.
Governance/Policy
It was noted by several participants that the UN does not have a body devoted to energy. A formalized multilateral body is needed to give direction to international energy initiatives. A parallel was drawn between UN Energy and UN Water.
There was wide agreement across the consultation sessions that Canada should place a high priority on developing a national sustainable development strategy and a national energy policy. In this regard, provincial representatives made reference to the work of the Council of Premiers. Industry representatives noted the need for a stable policy environment to enhance risk management and encourage investment in the energy industry. All agreed that energy policy and its accompanying regulatory and environmental frameworks need to take a long-term approach (i.e., more than five years).
Until a national sustainable development strategy is formulated, the federal departmental sustainable development strategies could be explored as a vehicle to address energy and climate change issues. Provincial participants commented that Canada's unique jurisdictional arrangement calls for strong partnerships among all three government levels. Civil society representatives also emphasized the need for more and stronger partnerships with NGOs, which often have first-hand experience and insights at the ground level, both in Canada and abroad.
Aboriginal participants suggested a reference to access and benefit sharing agreements with respect to the development of natural resources.
Various participants recommended that the following instruments/tools be further explored and developed:
- reduction of “perverse” subsidies
- incentives for renewables
- environmental assessment
- royalty structures (“rainy-day funds”, e.g., Norway) and tax treatments of different energy sources
- use of revenues from hydrocarbon development to develop renewables
- certification programs and better consumer information to promote more sustainable choices (e.g., product labelling)
- mechanisms for public participation in decisions relating to their own communities.
Science, Technology, and Canadian Expertise
Industry representatives noted that most companies active in the energy sector are members of industry associations that undertake research and have various linkages with government, though funding from government sources was at times thought to be trivial.
Civil society participants pointed to Canadian expertise demonstrated through initiatives such as RETScreen, Green Municipal Funds, and the work of the Conference Board of Canada (corporate social responsibility, environmental auditing when doing annual reports). They also noted that the industrial development sections of the consultation paper are weak, and more examples should be given, such as Canadian eco-industrial networks (e.g., lifecycle streaming in mining). They promoted the principle of producer responsibility.
Provincial representatives made note of growing international interest in various energy technologies being provincially developed (e.g., coal gasification) or applied in rural and remote areas (e.g., district heating). Several provinces mentioned that they are receiving a growing number of foreign delegations seeking information on Canada's experience (including training and gender equity), as well as access to Canadian technologies. Several identified significant trade opportunities and noted growing business linkages, especially in Asia (e.g., related to carbon sequestration).
Aboriginal representatives observed that the type of technology highlighted in the paper was out of the reach of the world's poor, and that what is needed is “appropriate technology” – affordable, easy to build with locally available materials, and simple to maintain without sophisticated training. It was thought that Canada's wealth of information on such technology should be made available for use, not only in developing countries, but also in Aboriginal communities in Canada. They also promoted the use of traditional knowledge on par with western science. The suggestion was made that CIDA and IDRC consult Canadian Aboriginals when designing development projects, and that representatives of Canada's three Aboriginal nations join Canada's CSD delegation in order to bring Aboriginal expertise to bear on projects and programs that involve technology transfer.
Other Suggestions
- Always bring the message back to the cross-cutting issues – sustainable consumption and production, education, health, etc.
- Make links to existing responsibilities (e.g., Kyoto)
- Recognize Aboriginal interests as a cross-cutting issue
- Do more to make domestic linkages
- Recognize human settlements and landscape use as key contributors fo energy use, climate change, etc.
Canadian success stories to promote:
- Canada's experience with clean coal technologies
- Burnside Industrial Park, Nova Scotia (an international model for environmental management of industrial parks)
- REAP-Canada, BIOHEAT (heat from densified energy grasses and agricultural residues) and development of efficient cookstoves that use this renewable energy source
- Green Municipal Fund
- Aboriginal Northern Climate Action Program
- ArcticNet, a Network of Centres of Excellence of Canada
- British Columbia's Energy Efficiency Act
- Prince Edward Island's renewable energy policy
- Energuide, for advice on infrastructure efficiencies
- Infoguide, a network of networks
1 Online at http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/sustain/environissu/consultation/session_03_2006-en.asp
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