moved:
That, in the opinion of the House, the government should increase its support of Canada's renewable energy sector, allow our country to participate in the worldwide effort to develop renewable energy sources and enlist Canada as a full member of the International Renewable Energy Agency.
Mr. Speaker, the International Renewable Energy Agency, IRENA, came into being on January 26, 2009. The founding conference in Bonn, Germany was attended by more than 120 government delegations from around the world. The Government of Canada sent no representative or observer.
As of today, 78 nations have signed the agency's statute. Many others have expressed their strong commitment to IRENA's goals and their intention to join in the near future. Until now, the Government of Canada has not signalled its intention.
We certainly wonder why. Why would the government snub this international agency? It makes no sense. The motion I have the honour of presenting offers the House of Commons an opportunity to commit the government to enlisting Canada as a full member of the International Renewable Energy Agency. It should be a given that Canada would be a member of this new agency. This country has always had a policy of making its mark in international forums when there is an important issue at stake.
This country is one of the pioneers that have worked to shape the most vital international institutions and that have used those institutions wisely to solve major problems.
And so the international community expects that Canada will be there, at a time when it is crucial that the world work together to deploy renewable energies and green technologies for the common good, especially since this is a field in which Canada has vast experience and one that will, moreover, provide Canada with valuable economic benefits if it takes its place on the global market.
There can no longer be any doubt: renewable energy sources like solar energy, wind energy and geothermal energy are increasingly becoming strategic assets. There are at least three reasons for this.
The first is environmental. We must promote clean energy to reduce the pollution caused by smog, acid rain and emissions of toxic substances like mercury.
We have to protect our health, our environment and our biodiversity. It is urgent that we adopt these energy sources, which do not emit greenhouse gases, if we are to address the climate change crisis.
The second reason why it is urgent that we expand our use of renewable energy comes under the heading of energy security. Non-renewable energy sources, by definition, are going to run out. They are non-renewable.
One factor is that the global demand for energy will nearly triple by the year 2050. Another is, as we are aware, that known hydrocarbon reserves that are commercially viable using today’s technologies are running out. The world is going to run short of recoverable carbon within a century and of readily accessible uranium in 40 years, and while there is no oil shortage at the moment, oil that is cheap to extract is becoming scarcer.
When a resource is expected to become scarce in the foreseeable future, then buyers and sellers anticipate supply problems and this is reflected in prices or costs.
When the global economy recovers, how high will the cost of a barrel of oil go? As high as $150, as it did last summer? Or higher?
The Saudi oil minister is predicting a disastrous shortage and skyrocketing prices. The International Monetary Fund also foresees a sharp rise in the price of crude oil.
Using renewable energy is an economic necessity. It is vital to global energy security.
The third reason why we have to speed up a massive switch to renewable energy is fairness.
At present, more than 1.6 billion human beings, nearly a third of humanity, are living without electricity.
It is no surprise that the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development has identified access to renewable and clean energy as a prerequisite for achieving the millennium development goals for poverty eradication.
The good news is that the use of renewable energy is actually booming. Wind and solar power are the fastest growing energy sources. According to the United Nations Environmental Program, global investment in renewable energy reached almost $150 billion in 2007 and is expected to increase to $600 billion by 2020. This is encouraging.
However, we will need much more within a short period of time, and the consensus is that it cannot be done without immense international co-operation.
This is why IRENA was created. IRENA is poised to become a key international institution, the role of which will be to act as an international governmental institution, focusing on the promotion of renewable energy and welcoming all UN members to join it. Its main tasks are to provide relevant policy advice and assistance to its members upon their request, improve pertinent knowledge and technology transfer and promote the development of local capacity in member states.
Right now no existing international organization can fulfill this mandate with the desired level of commitment and expertise. This is why so many important world players have welcomed the foundation of IRENA and are eager to unleash the opportunities for development and co-operation that this organization will provide. Here are a few quotes.
Dr. Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Director General of the Energy and Resources Institute, said, “IRENA is a very important development for the mitigation of greenhouse gases and sustainable development”.
Mohamed El-Ashry, chair of the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century stated, “IRENA promises to become a major driving force in advancing a rapid transition towards RE on a global scale”.
Dr. Eric Martinot, research director for the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies said:
IRENA can...provide policy guidance to governments around the world. In addition, the enormous need for technology development and education among all countries - both developed and developing - means that more coherent international efforts are absolutely necessary.
The prospect for synergy and co-operation is particularly promising with the International Energy Agency: first, because IRENA concentrates solely on renewable energy, while the International Energy Agency covers all energy sources with an emphasis on fossil and nuclear sources; and second, because IRENA is open to all United Nations members, industrialized and developing countries alike, while the International Energy Agency is limited to OECD countries.
And this brings us back to Canada’s inexplicable absence. It is now essential that the government allow this country to play its proper role, to be a leader, not a roadblock, in the speedy adoption of renewable energy around the world.
Canada cannot sit on the sidelines. Our country must be a leader in the international co-operation movement toward the much needed massive deployment of renewable energy.
What does the government have to lose by allowing Canada to be a full member of IRENA?
The more we do at home, the more we do elsewhere in the world. In terms of international aid, it is a fact that the most generous countries are also the ones most actively engaged in combating poverty at home. The same is true for renewable energy. Germany, Denmark and Spain, three leaders in renewable energy, are the ones most actively promoting IRENA. The United Arab Emirates, one of the oil-producing countries most active in promoting renewable energy, has tossed its hat into the ring as a candidate to host the headquarters of the new agency.
This kind of interest also shows the economic potential that renewable resources offer for countries that champion this cause early on. What has the Conservative government done to promote renewable energy? Considerably less than the minimum needed.
After three years of Conservative inaction, there is still no cap and trade system in Canada, which would level the playing field and make renewable energy more competitive with fossil fuels.
The Conservatives were quick to kill the plan of the previous Liberal government. They have yet to replace it with something other than idle talk and delaying tactics. Not once did the Conservative budget mention the words renewable energy.
According to the Pembina Institute, only 5% of the stimulus spending plan for the next two years is directed at clean energy. The Conservatives want to spend much, if not all, of their five year so-called clean energy fund on carbon capture and storage. The government declined to expand eco-energy, its modest program to support wind, solar, geothermal and other forms of renewable energy.
Does that explain the government's refusal to join the 78 IRENA member countries? Is the government afraid to be seen once more as an environmental and innovation laggard?
It is clear that we need to accelerate the growth of Canada's renewable energy industry and maximize the economic and environmental benefits that will result from it, especially in terms of green jobs.
Our international competitors are already engaged in meaningful economic stimulus through innovative green initiatives. President Obama's stimulus package, for example, includes plans to double the production of renewable energy in the next three years. Japan has plans to create one million additional green manufacturing jobs. Last week, China pledged to generate 100 gigawatts of electricity from wind power by 2020.
If we do not change course, Canada will fall behind.
To develop the production and use of renewable energy at home and abroad, the government should begin with two simple initiatives: in Canada, expand the eco-energy for renewable power program; and abroad, enlist Canada as a full member of IRENA.
These simple gestures would signal that the government is starting to realize the potential of Canada's renewable energy sector, the amount of green jobs and sustainable economic opportunities that are at stake and the pressing need for global co-operation in this crucial area.
It is never too late to do the right thing. I am offering the government an opportunity to do so, with the motion I have the honour of presenting. I urge all members of this House to support this motion, which calls on the government to increase its support of Canada’s renewable energy sector and allow Canada to participate as a full member of the International Renewable Energy Agency.