One hundred Canadians from cities and towns as far reaching as Fort St. John, Iqaluit and Charlottetown, will participate in a nation-wide public consultation on climate change September 26. The project is part of World Wide Views on Global Warming (WWViews), the first-ever global citizen consultation in preparation for the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen December 7 - 19. The Canadian consultation is led by University of Calgary professor, Edna Einsiedel.
"This is the only opportunity to hear the citizen voice at the international meeting," says Einsiedel, an expert on public consultation. "Citizen participants from over 40 countries will vote on their preferred policy directions on climate change. One of our goals is to prepare Canadian COP 15 delegates with a snapshot of Canadian perspectives on the issue."
Selected from a random sample of the Canadian population, one hundred citizens will travel to Calgary, Alberta for the September 26 consultation. Participants will learn about key policy issues on climate change and then deliberate and vote on the same questions that will be negotiated by politicians and other decision makers at the Copenhagen UN conference. A report outlining the Canadian recommendations will be available in October and distributed to Canadian COP 15 delegates, media, political decision makers at all levels of government, provincial and municipal stakeholders, environmental groups, and concerned stakeholders.
"Including Canadian voices in this global discussion is imperative, as the UN meeting in Copenhagen will determine international post-Kyoto emission targets," says Einsiedel. "Canada is uniquely positioned in these discussions as a country that depends economically on energy production but is also acutely aware of its responsibility for environmental sustainability."
The September 26 event will be held in unison with public consultations in 40 other countries around the world as part of the Danish-led initiative, World Wide Views on Global Warming. Results from all participating countries will be compiled to provide an understanding of the variety of global perspectives on climate policy.
Funding for the WWViews project in Canada was provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Suncor Energy, The Government of the Northwest Territories, The Government of New Brunswick, The Government of Nova Scotia, and Environment Yukon. More information about WWViews is available at http://www.ucalgary.ca/wwviewscanada/