The proposal came from a coalition of scientists, politicians and campaigners, including the World Development Movement, the Polaris Institute in Canada and Greenpeace, just before this weekend’s Commonwealth heads of government summit in Trinidad and Tobago, at which global warming will top the agenda.
Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions are among the world’s highest, and the country will not meet the cut required under the Kyoto protocol: by 2007 its emissions were 34% above its reduction target. In a list of 185 countries, Canada is the 3rd highest CO2 culprit (18.8 tons per capita), with Australians in the first place (20.6 tons per capita annually) and the United States in the second with 19.8 tons.
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The coalition claims Canada is contributing to droughts, floods and sea level rises in Commonwealth countries such as Bangladesh, the Maldives and Mozambique. Clare Short, the former international development secretary, said: “Countries that fail to help [tackle global warming] should be suspended from membership, as are those that breach human rights.”
The Commonwealth’s 53 members include not only developed countries like Britain, Australia and Canada, but also emerging economies like India and South Africa as well as poor developing states comprising some of the world’s most vulnerable to global warming, like the Maldives and Bangladesh. In the past, the Commonuardiwealth has suspended Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and South Africa for electoral or human rights reasons.
Source and further information: The Guardian
