Barbara Hayes is the 24–year-old National Director for the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition. This week, she made a presentation to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development. While others there talked about science and policy, Hayes spoke about the emotional and generational impact of global warming. Here are her unofficial remarks according to the ‘Blues’ of the committee’s meeting on Tuesday of this week:
Ms. Barbara Hayes (National Director, Canadian Youth Climate Coalition): The committee may not be aware, but Canadian youth have had an impressive if informal history with the UN negotiations. From five youth to the current youth delegation to Bali of 32, complete with logo, the Canadian youth movement and indeed youth globally have long recognized the importance of making the negotiations comprehensible and accessible to youth.
The reason youth have been so active is that although we are the largest effective constituency, we are not party to the UN negotiations. Spanning all countries, all large and small, youth are inheriting a changed climate they haven't created.
Approximately 20% of the Canadian population is under the age of 18 and have no voting rights and no representation either domestically or as part of the international process. If a real negotiating mandate, including absolute targets and hard caps is not achieved coming out of Bali, then these youth must shortly be counted among the growing number of people directly affected by projected climate impacts.
You do not have the right to make this decision for us.
You must hear us.
We are not given a say in this matter, so we are taking the microphone anyway.
A year ago, at the age of 22, I helped to found the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, because with the levels of climate change we have already caused, I will spend the rest of my life dealing with adaptation and mitigation to a changed climate. It's a given.
The Canada of my adulthood would be fundamentally different than the current one as a result of global emissions. I do this work now as a young person because I don't want the global climate to be my daily concern when I am 40. My generation deserves a stable climate, and we deserve some peace of mind.
Ours is a future of fewer possibilities if Canada does not embrace and vigorously work to reach mandatory hard caps. My generation needs progress at the Bali negotiations to ensure that we have the opportunity to be participants in a strong and vibrant Canada.
My current view of the future holds fewer cultural and economic possibilities, the rapid spread of new diseases, increased incidents of extreme weather events, destabilized global politics, hundreds of thousands of displaced persons.
Since the government has abandoned our Kyoto targets, we can no longer trust our leaders are acting with our best interests at heart. We are now accustomed to be ashamed of our country's poor behaviour. The instructionism we saw at the Commonwealth meeting is sadly no longer surprising. Canadian youth were present at the UN climate meetings in New York, Bonn, and Vienna this summer. We watched our government betray our future and our good name simultaneously.
It is unbelievable that hiding behind developing nations and watering down international commitments is being characterized as strong foreign policy. Undermining a clear, necessary and internationally-agreed upon treaty in favour of vague aspirational goals is frankly a failure of leadership.
The goals, even the legislative tools, are here, and still the government refuses to act. Watching the government try to wiggle out of the Kyoto Implementation Act has been gut-wrenching.
The first step to reducing our emissions is actually to attempt to reduce our emissions. In order to reduce our emissions by the amount necessary, Bali must lead to a plan with firm reduction goals, strict penalties for violators, and a clearcut deadline for these changes.
We are not saying this is an easy task, but we are saying it is both necessary and achievable. It can't be the economic argument that prevents the government from taking action. It is false and frankly an increasingly dishonest choice. The Stern report on climate change estimated the global cost of runaway climate change could surmount the cost of the two world wars combined, crippling global GDP by 20%. He further estimated that acting to avoid the worst impacts of climate change would be only 1% to 3% of global GDP.
The longer you wait, the more it will cost us, and the less likely we are to adjust in time for Canada's industrial sector to take leadership. So to the current government's legacy of global destabilization and health crises and ecological devastation, you must add crippling economic depression.
Climate change is not just an environmental issue. When farmers crops fail from unnatural droughts, it is a livelihood issue. When our grandparents die from heat waves, it is a health issue. When the animals people traditionally hunt are no longer there, this is a survival issue. When failing to act opens up the Northwest Passage, this is a sovereignty issue. When children can no longer play hockey on outdoor rinks, this is a cultural issue. When I lose my job because industry failed to adapt to a changing world, this is an economic issue.
These were the words of the 40 organizations that came together to address the leadership failure on climate change by forming the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition. We are not being fooled by the doublespeak, and we are stepping up to let our leaders know that the words are not a substitute for action. In at least 20 cities across the country, big and small, people are mobilizing for the International Day of Climate Action on December 8 to protest our government's shameful inaction and demand a real mandate for Bali.
This government will not be around to be held accountable for the worst effects of climate change, but 30 years down the road when Canada has become a haven for climate refugees, they will look to me and my peers, the current youth of our rich industrialized and polluting nation, and say, “Why did you let this happen?”
So I'm asking you now, “Why, with everything we know and all the tools you have, why are you letting this happen?”