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Good morning. I would like to thank all of you for joining me here today. The Government of Canada is pleased and Environment Canada is very pleased to host this Workshop, and I am very pleased that it is taking place in my home province, Alberta, in my hometown, Edmonton. And I have to say secretly why I really wanted all of you to be here this week was of course so that you could cheer for our hockey team the Edmonton Oilers. So thank you for all. It was a success. So we’re on our way to the Stanley Cup I hope.

I wanted to take a quick minute to thank Dan Onpacter for all the work he’s done, our United Nations Climate Change Secretariat in organizing this meeting and making it a success. And I wanted to say that one of reasons I was proud to host this here because Alberta I believe is very much a leader in matters of climate change adaptation and innovation and Albertans know that the environment is best served in our opinion when governments, businesses and other stakeholders all work together, and they are doing something about it. And we have someone here today – I’m thinking of initiatives right here in Alberta like Climate Change Central — Simon Knight is with us today. It’s a unique public-private partnership that promotes the development of innovative responses to environmental impacts.

Albertans are environmental leaders and I recognize many of them in this room. People like Simon Knight, people like Bob Page who is here with us this morning as well, an industry leader with a deep environmental conscience and I thank all of you for your hard work that you do here on behalf of Albertans and on behalf of Canadians.

I understand that you have made good progress. There have been some challenges but you’ve made progress over the last few days and this is encouraging and I thank you for that.

Many individual countries have begun planning and acting domestically to mitigate environmental impacts. So has Canada. Jim, you probably heard us speak about this. We will be introducing our "made-in-Canada" plan, which will focus on ensuring that Canadians can enjoy clean air, clean water, clean land, clean energy and healthy ecosystems, now and in the future.

I want to share with you what our expected results are of that plan. We expect cleaner air and water to protect the health of families and communities. We expect healthy ecosystems, opportunities to build a competitive and sustainable Canadian economy and energy security which is very important in a continental way for us, development and use of new technologies which I think Canada in particular has a great opportunity to take part in, greater accountability to Canadians, regional development and tangible benefits right here in our local community..

Our "made-in-Canada" plan is comprehensive and it’s results-oriented. It will establish effective measures to achieve tangible results and an effective approach for reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. And it will include appropriate policies, strategies and measures to build up our capacity to adapt.

But as we develop our "made-in-Canada" plan to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, we also look forward to working with our international counterparts, our international partners towards what we see as a more effective and inclusive approach to addressing these issues.

The question that we’ve been asking over the last number of months is what will future global cooperation need to be to be fully effective and truly effective?

First, in our opinion it will need to allow all countries to choose the best combination of results-oriented actions that lead to real reductions in greenhouse emissions. It will need to be based on the principles of flexibility, cost-effectiveness and national circumstances, and to recognize a broad range of approaches to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.

Second, it will need broad participation by developed and developing countries alike, with an eye to the long term.

Third, the rising global energy demand will require a transformation in the way the world produces and consumes energy. Since fossil fuels are expected to dominate well into this century, advanced fossil fuel technologies and energy efficiency measures will play an important role. As well, a portfolio of breakthrough technologies and more efficient deployment and diffusion of current technologies will be required, to developed and developing countries alike.

Finally, I believe global action must integrate the additional co-benefits provided at the local level, such as improved air quality.

There is great potential for future international cooperation to meet these objectives. But if the countries of the world are going to coordinate their action, they need to work together.

As you know, there are now two official processes for discussing the future: the creation of the Ad Hoc Working Group to consider future approaches, and the Dialogue on Long Term Cooperative Action. Together, they provide an opportunity to move forward within the United Nations process. And Canada will participate actively in both processes.

The Ad Hoc Working Group should take the opportunity, in our minds, to assess what has worked and what has not so far. This Ad Hoc Working Group is also well positioned to explore the potential of different types of commitment structures and options for broadening participation. Moving forward means being more inclusive.

The Dialogue provides a complementary opportunity to explore a number of key issues, a necessary step in informing effective and inclusive international cooperation.

In my view, the Dialogue should address action on adaptation. It should address realizing the full potential of technology and realizing the full potential of market-based opportunities.

We should examine a variety of approaches to commitments, as well as cross-cutting issues such as investment, competitiveness and energy security.

We should examine how governments and the private sector can work together to stimulate technological innovation and move the world consistently toward a low carbon economy. Parties should share experiences and discuss what can be done well within the Convention process and what may work better outside of it.

Cost-effective market-based approaches will continue to be important. Innovative new approaches should be examined and existing approaches continually improved. Parties should continue to engage with companies, multilateral development banks, private sector financiers, and re-insurers to explore how market-based opportunities interact with future approaches.

Important progress has been made in addressing adaptation in the Convention process, but much more needs to be done. We should build on existing adaptation activities and mechanisms of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. As well, Parties should remain open to new options within and outside the UN process. They should examine what role multilateral and regional organizations, the private sector and civil society organizations could have in facilitating adaptation, including at the community level.

Developed and developing countries share common challenges in meeting their economic, social and environmental needs, but capacities differ considerably. To be successful, greenhouse gas mitigation, coupled with adaptation measures, should be integrated into broader sustainable development objectives, such as economic development, energy security, public health, air quality and local environmental protection.

Finally, I do believe that there should be transparent information sharing between processes, both within and outside the United Nations. We should build on information from complementary United Nations processes and we should also examine relevant non-United Nations processes, as well as important technology initiatives.

In closing, I wish you all the success. I know you have challenges in your hands and we look forward to working with all of you. I wish you all success in wrapping up your discussions today. I look forward to hearing the results at our upcoming meetings in Bonn.

But before I do run off, I would like to recognize the excellent work of the Chair of the Workshop, Thomas Becker has done. And offer you a gift on behalf of Environment Canada and the Government of Canada, in appreciation of your commitment and all the work you’ve done over the last few days and for cheering for the Edmonton Oilers.