Just days after World Water Day, the Canadian government quietly acknowledged last week that it had dropped out of the United Nations anti-drought convention. The move reportedly makes Canada the only nation in the world not party to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, or Unccd.
Despite the ruling Conservative government’s claim that it had opted out because too little of its contribution was going toward actual anti-drought programming — branding the U.N. convention a “talkfest” in the process — many critics were quick to say the move fits a patten of a conservative party that has opposed environmental regulation.
“It’s just another step Canada moves away from protecting the environment and towards the oil industry,” said John Bennett, executive director of Sierra Club Canada.
The pullout became public during the official question period in Parliament on Thursday, just before the long Easter weekend break.
“The Conservatives are doing tremendous damage to our international reputation,” said Paul Dewar, an M.P. from the New Democratic Party, the official opposition, during the question period.
The reaction to the news in Canada, where many fear the government of Prime Minster Stephen J. Harper is undoing Canada’s reputation for both environmentalism and international cooperation, was as swift as it was damming.
Full Story: http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/01/canadas-latest-climate-change/
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