Following the United Nations Copenhagen Summit for climate change in December, I personally was left with the feeling that the way our country was once viewed on an international level has been disgraced by the events of the unsuccessful world conference. 

The duration of the summit was supposed to mark change in the world. Change to affect the way we currently treat the most valuable resource we have; our planet.

Amid a practical joke that left Prime Minister Stephen Harper out on his rump and admittedly rather sore, the summit was topped off by little action on the part of our own government and more so from our southern counterparts, the United States.

President Barack Obama didn’t shock many with his no-nonsense attitude and willingness to jump on board. Meanwhile, the U.S., who had not taken part in the Kyoto Accord, is still managing to look better than us. Our own Prime Minister left it up to his conservative minions, most notably Environment Minister Jim Prentice, to do all the “big” talking. 

The Copenhagen Summit was meant to gather the world’s largest and some of its smallest pollutants to arrange a discussion about life in a post-Kyoto world after 2012. Coming right after the world’s first agreement to cut emissions, the Copenhagen Accord will hopefully be designed to fix any problems its predecessor had in getting its participants to adhere to protocol. But I know of one particular problem a-brewing and it’s the reason our government continues to embarrass us.

The Copenhagen Accord is non-binding. It’s not enforceable, it’s not the law and there is absolutely no penalty if you don’t follow the rules. Somehow, somewhere, the social expectation where you do what you promise got lost in translation on an international level.

So why on earth would Stephen Harper willingly adhere to a protocol that will cost his government more money when he can safely duck out and save money? Maybe it’s because his measly contribution to the summit is barely an effort at all.

The proposed changes in emissions range from 40-45 per cent as seen from China and India (the world’s largest developing nations) to a sorry 1.3 per cent. Unfortunately for Canadians, our government has only promised that we will attempt to change 3 per cent of our overall emissions. Even worse is that China and India have offered to do it from 2005 to 2020 or roughly a 15 year span. Canada has agreed to a time span ranging from 1990 to 2020, which is 30 years. Talk about underachievement and embarrassing. 

It seems what our government lacks is the basic fundamentals of survival. The most ironic thing is that countries in the developing world, looked down on for being technologically inept, are now relishing in the fact that we’re paying for our mistakes.

You can’t stick a number on change, Mr. Harper, and if you’re trying to, you might want to aim a bit higher than 3 per cent next time. Let’s just hope your 3 per cent is high enough so there is no next time.