Canada was once a climate and environmental leader, now the country is considered to be one of the worst offenders on Earth. The actions of the ruling federal Conservatives led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper have pushed Canada to the very bottom of national environmental and climate assessments
In October 2014 Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was named the world’s worst climate villain based on a report which singled out Canada as the worst climate change performer. The Climate Change Performance Index, is published by Germanwatch and Climate Action Network Europe. The report factored things like emission levels, efficiency, renewable energy and climate policy. Canada was ranked among the very worst nations in the world (just ahead of Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia).
The report says Canada, “still shows no intention of moving forward with climate policy and therefore remains the worst performer of all [industrialized] countries.”
The 2014 Germanwatch report follows a couple of similar findings in 2013. A European report ranked Canada 55th of 58 countries in terms of tackling greenhouse gas emissions, ahead of only Iran, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia.
Another report from Washington-based group, the Center for Global Development, ranked Canada 27th on the environment out of the world’s wealthiest 27 countries. The report of OECD countries ranked Canada last because of its fossil fuel production, high per capita greenhouse gas emissions and its withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol. Canada “has the dubious honor of being the only CDI country with an environment score which has gone down since we first calculated the CDI [in 2003],: the report said.
It is the source of national shame that the Harper government’s environmental and climate abuses have destroyed Canada’s once stellar reputation.
