Message from the Minister of the Environment Government of Canada

The Honourable Stéphane Dion, Minister of the Environment, Government of Canada

The Government of Canada is proud to welcome delegates to Montreal and Canada for the First Meeting of the Parties and 11th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Canada is hosting this event with a deep awareness of the importance of action on climate change. Scientists have already detected warming of minimum and maximum temperatures in Canada. We are seeing thinner sea-ice in the Canadian Arctic, which has impacts on the Inuit and other northern peoples and on well-known species such as the polar bear.

Since the 1988 World Climate Science Conference in Toronto, Canada has contributed in many ways to international progress on climate change, including our own ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, and particularly through our support for science. Canadians are among the world's most respected climate science modellers. In September, Montreal hosted meetings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, while we are also a full participant in the Group on Earth Observations (GEO). The Ouranos Consortium, here in Montréal is doing pioneering work helping to clarify possible climate change impacts on infrastructure, natural resources and public safety in the region of North America. Those are just some examples of a much broader Canadian commitment to environmental issues at home and internationally such as this city's honour in serving as site of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Now it is time for next steps. With the Kyoto Protocol coming into force, the international community has agreed on the need for clear, effective action. Here in Montreal, delegates will begin the work to identify how we can act on what we have learned since the Kyoto Protocol was developed to do even better in the future.

Canada is an excellent place for that work to start. As a very large and diverse country with an advanced economy, significant energy resources including oil, natural gas and coal, and a cold climate, Canada has worked hard to develop innovative responses to climate change that draw on contributions from across our society and economy. We are carrying out our work today under the banner of Project Green, Canada's broad environmental vision that links our economic competitiveness and prosperity to a sustainable future.

By working with Canadians and by drawing on the innovations of researchers in the private, public and academic sectors, we are identifying ways to help our economy become both more climate-friendly as well as more productive. Canada's strategy for meeting our Kyoto commitment, Moving Forward on Climate Change 2005, is built on the principles of harnessing market forces, building enduring partnerships and promoting innovation, the same approaches we are discussing at the United Nations Climate Change Conference. As the only country in the G-7 with a consistent record of balanced national government budgets, we have the capacity that is enabling us to invest in the kinds of actions that will get results for Canada and the world.

It is my hope that people from around the globe will gather in Montreal in a spirit of celebrating significant progress to date and beginning to focus energy on the future. This is the moment for a new beginning and a deeper sense of urgency as we seek to define the world we want future generations to enjoy - and what we all must do to get the results those generations deserve.