Updated Wed. May. 28 2008 8:17 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in a speech at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity Wednesday, praised Canada for going to great lengths to protect the environment.
The conference, in Bonn, Germany, is focused on the battle to protect species and their habitat around the world.
“As the heirs to this natural endowment, we understand that it is merely on loan, passed onto us from previous generations to safeguard for the generations yet to come,” said Harper.
“Canada has gone to great lengths to protect and preserve our rich and diverse environment, and in our country this is not just a government enterprise. We are partnered with many private individuals, corporations and non-governmental organizations dedicated to environmental philanthropy.”
Harper touted Canada’s achievements in conserving more than 200,000 hectares of ecologically significant lands in Canada.
He also said Canada has protected three million hectares of ocean waters and 10 per cent of its land mass — an area greater than the size of France and Germany combined.
“These large protected areas include famous national parks like Banff, Fundy, Gros Morne, and Nahanni, of which our government announced a significant expansion last summer,” said Harper.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel also spoke at the conference and, like Harper, was presented with an award recognizing her nation’s contribution to the protection of biodiversity.
Merkel told the conference she had promised US$788 million to combat deforestation between 2009-2012, with a further US788 million available every year thereafter.
Harper also used the forum to push Canada’s strategy to combat climate change.
“We have vowed to get past the empty rhetoric and to take real action to require Canadian industry to make real reductions in greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.
CTV’s Roger Smith said Harper’s talk about getting past the “empty rhetoric” appeared to be a shot at some of the European leaders is meeting with on his tour.

ctv.ca