Q&A with Elizabeth May ahead of Paris climate talks

Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau has invited Green Party Leader Elizabeth May to be part of the Canadian delegation at the United Nations climate talks next month. Provincial premiers have also been invited to the UN gathering, as will Opposition parties.

More than 190 nations will gather in Paris with the aim of agreeing on a legally binding agreement on emissions reductions that would — hopefully — keep global warming below 2 C.

As the sole Green Party member of Parliament, May’s political agenda revolves largely around pushing climate action onto the Canadian agenda.

Yahoo Canada News spoke to May about the negotiations that begin in Paris on Nov. 30.

Q: Did the invitation come as a surprise to you?

A: “It wasn’t a surprise and not because I’d spoken to Mr. Trudeau [last week]. It was obvious that the only prime minister in the history of this country to exclude Opposition members of Parliament was Stephen Harper and it was an abomination. It was an outrage.

“I’m glad that I’ve been invited on the delegation but I never really thought that was in any doubt once Stephen Harper was defeated.

During the years of Conservative rule May continued to attend UN climate conferences on her own.

“I’ve got a sense of exactly where we are in the negotiations and they’re not going very well. So, we have very little time left to get everything organized globally and in terms of Canada’s performance.”

She met with Trudeau last Thursday to discuss what needs to be done.

Q: What is your advice to Trudeau on the climate talks?

A: “In broad strokes it’s clear that Canada has been the worst country in the room for quite a while in negotiations.

“First, he [Harper] established the target in Copenhagen in 2009 and did absolutely nothing to reach it, so we’ve missed our Copenhagen target about 100 per cent. So Leona Aglukkaq, the former environment minister, announced a new target in May and it’s the weakest target in the industrialized world. So, we’re not doing well right now. We have to improve our target. We have to show a real commitment to action….

“I’m much more hopeful about Canada’s reputation in the world, our ability to contribute to these negotiations now that we have a prime minister who understands the importance of the issue.”

Q: What are your priorities, not just for Paris but the future?

A: “Paris is key because it is a deadline negotiation for a new treaty. We can’t afford for this to fail.”

Q: In May, the Conservative government announced a new target to reduce carbon emissions by 30 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030. In 2009 the Canadian government announced a target to cut emissions 17 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020 — a target that Canada was nowhere near achieving.

What should the targets be?

A: “Our plan, the Green Party platform, called for 40 per cent reductions below 2005 levels by 2025. That’s quite ambitious but I believe we can do it. Whether that’s something the prime minister-designate can get the provinces on board for that target, I don’t know.

By 2050, we should be at 80 per cent below 1990 levels. That’s really the key thing – that we start reducing emissions globally and fast and move towards virtual elimination of fossil fuels by mid-century. That does require that most of the known fossil fuel reserves in the world stay in the ground and that’s a difficult message for Alberta.”

May says maintaining the current production levels in Alberta while doing more processing will create jobs and allow rapid reduction in emissions. She says there are compromises that can accomplish both continued production at current levels and emissions reductions.

“The key thing in relation to the oilsands is to keep them from expanding.”

May says joining the Liberal government delegation does not mean she will be in the Liberal fold.

“I’m not signing on to a Liberal agenda. If what the prime minister-designate does falls short or, worst-case scenario, goes off-side — which I do not think will happen — but if he suddenly starts spouting the kinds of policies that Stephen Harper had had, I will be in a position to make sure that people know that. My job is not to work for Justin Trudeau. My job is to work for climate action and for Canada.”

This interview has been edited and condensed.