Canada and a changing climate

The Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is essentially the mechanism through which member states govern the activities of the organization. At its Annual Session this May, the topic of a three-hour-long special event is UNDP activities in the area of climate change.

Without taking a deep dive into the politics and realities, international development and climate change mitigation are now inextricably linked. For UNDP to remain relevant in this new development paradigm, the organization will have to engage in a lengthy battle and costly retooling to be competitive with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), whose mandate is -- as the name suggests -- the environment.

And so, as with all things in the United Nations system, the careful 'mandate encroachment' dance begins. It starts with a special event to promote the organization's work, but also brings all players to the table (such as UNEP) in a limited but visible-enough way to please member states and show that UNDP is a team player. Afterward comes the call by member states to "cross cut" environmental issues through all initiatives (this was also the case with gender, when it was a hot topic) and then, with any luck, the fundraising will begin, helping to expand the bottom line so that as much of the funds 'pie' as possible is secured for UNDP.

A cynical view -- yes. A realistic view -- absolutely. It's also a sad reflection on the importance of 'turf' among United Nations organizations.

But there are reasons to be optimistic. The amount of money available for development is tightening given the economy, which is forcing donors to take a long hard look at efficiencies and return on investment; donors' critical eyes have never been sharper. Words such as 'duplication,' 'overlap' and 'comparative advantage' are increasingly used in the course of UNDP Board deliberations in an effort to try and reduce administrative bloat -- a common United Nations affliction.

This blog post, as the title suggests, was supposed to be about Canada and climate change. But in a bout of insomnia, reflective of the rather difficult experience I am having as a UNDP staff member, I clearly meandered. What is worth noting in the area of climate change as it pertains to Canada however, is that in late 2008, an interesting report by the National Intelligence Council entitled Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World provided fascinating and comprehensive insight into ongoing and anticipated changes to the world order. The section on climate change featured a sidebar that singled out two countries, Canada being one, for being in a position to capitalize on its vast water reserves and its moderate climate in relation to shifts in the global environment.

Given the vast resources that will be made available to help developing countries mitigate the impact of climate change, the battles have begun at the United Nations. If we are smart in Canada, we will avoid falling into the "money=development" binary and instead, show leadership amongst nations by modelling proper behaviour for environmental preservation. Given the size of our country, we have so many opportunities to make the right decisions -- whether by harnessing the power of our tides, winds or the sun, or by agreeing to and meeting the expectations of international agreements. At a time when our neighbour to the south is making promises of investments in green technology but is too busy bailing out banks and car companies, we are in a position to leapfrog into green education in our universities, green technology and research and development, and green infrastructure. The time to put Canada into a leadership position is now.