The UN climate talks seemed to grind to slow motion this week with the much-hyped, much-anticipated arrival of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

Kerry arrived late for his scheduled talk, striding in with that celebrity dignitary air, surrounded by a posse of private security guards and long-lens photographers. An inexplicable apocalyptic plume of black smoke rose from the Marrakechi cityscape behind him.

From along the corridors of the conference venue adoring bystanders yelled, “We love you Secretary Kerry!”

I swear I saw Kerry’s teeth glisten like a Disney princess as he smiled and waved.

The moment was perfectly American, unfolding like a scene from a high-budget Hollywood film. In this conference mashup of international attendees it really did feel like the whole world was watching.

But they weren’t.

Secretary John Kerry at the UN climate talks in Marrakech, Morocco. Photo: Carol Linnitt

In fact, the whole of the giant complex making up the 22nd Conference of Parties seemed only to gaze up at the commotion before carrying on with its work.

At most international diplomatic events, the U.S. takes up a disproportionate amount of the sociopolitical bandwidth.

With the recent dramatic unfolding of the U.S. election — and the elevation of sideshow performer Donald Trump to one of the most powerful thrones in the world — this is truer than ever.

The reverberations of Trump’s win are still being felt in Marrakech where delegations from some 200 countries are deliberating the details of the Paris Agreement, a historic international treaty to limit global warming to as close to 1.5 degrees Celsius as possible.

Trump, who said he believes climate change to be a Chinese hoax, has vowed to pull out of the Paris Agreement and unleash America’s fossil fuel corporations on the nation’s remaining hydrocarbon deposits.

Here’s Trumps 100-day energy action plan:

Trump's 100-day action plan for energy #climate #cop22 "cancel Paris Climate Agreement" and stop payments "to U.N. global warming programs." pic.twitter.com/p0BvVXzyrf

— Graham Readfearn (@readfearn) November 9, 2016

Many responded by announcing the end had come, the planet will fry and we’re all screwed.

As a Canadian watching the U.S. election furor descend into ever-deeper madness from north of the border, I’ll admit it was hard to ward off the end-times thinking.

Yet arriving in Marrakech after extracting myself from my self-referential cesspool of a Facebook feed, it was clear just how much of the world is… well… not America and preoccupied with very non-American things.

In an interview at the climate talks Erik Solheim, executive director of the UN Environment Program, said the leadership gap left in America’s wake will simply be filled by other countries.

“The small talk here in Marrakech was, of course, completely overshadowed by the U.S. election, as everyone knows,” Solheim said. “But I’m very optimistic that whatever happens in the U.S., China and others will provide the global leadership that we need.”

China, responsible for 25 per cent of the world’s emissions while also being the world’s largest solar energy market, seemed eager to wave its diplomatic finger at the U.S. It backed up the gesture by announcing a new climate partnership with the European Union.

Lutz Weischer, leader of international climate policy at Germanwatch, said the EU/China collaboration is a game changer. He suggested Trump may have inadvertently strengthened the international community’s resolve.

“The Chinese have made statements that read to me they believe this is a global challenge…indicating the EU and China can move forward on this together,” he said. “Trump was sort of a wake up call to everybody. Countries seem even more committed than in the past.”

Solar installation in China. Photo: The Climate Group via Flickr.

Australia, Pakistan, Italy, Saudi Arabia and the U.K. have all ratified the Paris Agreement since Trump’s election, putting an end to speculation the U.S. shakeup might cause a climate treaty exodus.

Mohamed Adow, climate lead from Christian Aid International, said it’s a significant sign that even a post-Brexit U.K. isn’t abandoning the agreement.

“During a week in which the international climate negotiations have experienced the shock of the U.S. elections, this backing by America’s oldest and strongest ally shows that support for global action to tackle climate change remains resolute,” he said.

“If the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States can’t shake countries’ resolve then nothing will.”

Beyond pure political and economic leadership, many have expressed concern that the real loss will be felt in the absence of America’s moral leadership. But Weischer doesn’t see it that way.

“The strongest moral leadership in this process has always come from the vulnerable countries,” he said. “And not just in providing that leadership but in actually committing to do more.”

Bill Hare, climate scientist and director of Berlin-based Climate Analytics, said Trump’s surprise victory did dampen the mood in Marrakech — for a day.

“People bounced back quickly, thinking ‘well, okay, we can also do tough.’ “

New climate possibilities are opening up in new ways, Hare said, “because the geopolitical and technological dynamics have changed.”

Slowing emissions in China are the most obvious example.  

“From our technical analysis, we’re beginning to think China has peaked its carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels,” Hare said.

“It’s the second or third year in a row where carbon dioxide emissions have reduced and new policies announced by China should continue that trend.”

Earth to America: Trump’s Not the Centre of the Universe (Or the Climate) https://t.co/hNspoMRXIx #cdnpoli #ClimateAction

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) November 18, 2016

But Hare said the real news story is coming out of India, which is responsible for 6.96 per cent of the world’s total emissions and has millions of residents still without power.

For several years the world has been left to wonder if India’s solution to its energy poverty would be coal or cleaner alternatives.

Hare said news that India cancelled four ultra, mega coal plants —“which are as bad as they sound” — is a positive sign, as is the country’s massive growth rate in renewable energy.

“I think that’s the biggest story on the planet right now: will India make that transformation away from coal towards renewables bringing hundreds of millions of people out of energy poverty in a clean and sustainable way?”

“That would be the biggest transformation the world has seen should it come about,” Hare said.

“So despite the depression that many people feel about the Trump election, and rightly so, in the climate policy space we see a lot of potential for things to move forward rapidly despite the turbulence from the U.S. political system.”

Liz Gallagher, senior associate with the UK-based climate analysis group, E3G said Secretary Kerry’s remarks to conference attendees may have provided some measure of comfort by emphasizing the role of pure market forces in deciding the fate of the climate.

Over 360 businesses and investors have also called on Trump to stick with the fight against global warming, saying it simply makes good business sense.

The Paris Agreement calls for a worldwide decarbonization by 2050, something that is going to require what Trump might term ‘tremendous’ amounts of renewable investment dollars.

“That’s the paradox of what president-elect Trump is proposing: he’s going backwards on policy that could make it harder for the U.S. to retain or grow its place in the world,” Hare said. “The economic benefits will be lost to the United States.”

Weischer had a similar sentiment: “This is the first time the federal U.S. government has actively decided to take the U.S. out of an emerging industrial revolution.”

Emissions in the U.S. will likely be affected by Trump’s victory but it’s not yet game over for the universe.

So maybe all that apocalypse talk emanating from the U.S. is really about something more specific: in the coming clean energy rapture, America is the one who risks being left behind.

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“If you were to get lost in the bush, I could find you.”

It’s an oddly placed sentiment in the city heat of Marrakech, Morocco, yet an entirely appropriate one for an indigenous panel at the UN climate talks hosted by Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna.

Francois Paulette, revered Canadian indigenous leader and elder from the Dene Nation, told an international crowd of delegates, campaigners and press that back in Canada, his place is in the wild.

It is there Paulette learned from his elders the meaning of sin: “The biggest sin a man can make is to abuse the earth.”

“And now that’s why we’re in the place we’re in and why there is global warming.”

Although Paulette said he is not one for the city — he’d rather be on a riverbank back home in the Northwest Territories — he’s no stranger to international diplomacy. At his sixth UN climate summit, Paulette is more determined than ever to ensure indigenous perspectives and rights are central to international climate plans.

By all appearances Canada seems determined to do the same.

McKenna, introducing the group of high-level indigenous leaders, rearticulated Canada’s promise to strengthen its relationship with indigenous peoples.

“As the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau has said there is no more important relationship than our relationship with indigenous peoples, our First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples,” McKenna said.

“I really believe that and that’s why it’s so important we’re working together.”

Federal Approval of Site C, Proposed Pipelines Problematic for Indigenous Rights

At last year's UN climate talks in Paris, Canada’s delegation was among those leading the fight to include indigenous rights in the agreement text.

Yet indigenous leaders sitting alongside Paulette and McKenna at the panel say more has to be done to live up to promises to respect indigenous rights, both on the international stage, and domestically in Canada.

Paulette said despite clear promises to renew Canada’s relationship with indigenous people, Trudeau recently approved federal permits for the Site C dam in British Columbia despite opposition from Treaty 8 First Nations.

“We have a problem with that.”

Paulette added that because of the environmental impacts of oilsands development on water and climate, he also cannot support the construction of new pipelines.

The Trudeau government is expected to approve the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline in coming weeks and in September approved the Pacific Northwest LNG export terminal — which is projected to be Canada’s largest single point source of greenhouse gas emissions — near Prince Rupert, B.C.

The recent project approvals, which contravene Canada’s promises to indigenous peoples as well as its climate commitments, have some worried Canada isn’t prepared to walk the talk.

“If we’re going to implement the Paris Agreement, it can’t just be in words,” Paulette said. “We need to be a part of that process every step of the way.”

Canada’s Pipeline Projects Run Up Against Indigenous Rights, Climate Targets

Kevin Hart, Assembly of First Nations Manitoba Regional Chief, said environmental degradation still disproportionately impacts indigenous peoples in Canada and around the world, a problem exacerbated by new pipeline proposals.

The Trans Canada Energy East pipeline and the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline are facing intense indigenous opposition, including legal challenges. A Canadian court found the now stalled Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline was conditionally approved by a government-appointed panel without adequate consultation for First Nations, as is required by the Canadian constitution.

The proposed path for the Energy East pipeline crosses Manitoba on its route to export facilities on the east coast. The controversial pipeline, which would transport 1.1 million barrels of oil per day, has been called a threat to indigenous land and water. The project’s current route has it crossing over the territory of 50 First Nations, according to the Council of Canadians.

“Our people are right smack dab in the middle of proposed pipeline development currently on the table,” Hart said.

Hart said if Canada is to live up to its climate commitments it cannot afford to build more pipelines.

“If there’s any expansion done in Canada it will be next to impossible for Canada to meet those targets now and in the future.”

Hart, who was speaking on a stage at the Indigenous People’s Pavilion at the UN climate talks, turned to address McKenna personally.

“And Minister McKenna, you as well as your colleague [transport] Minister Carr, know full well I’ve publicly stated I cannot support any pipeline currently or in the future.”

“Indigenous peoples have known for thousands of years how to protect the land, as Trudeau pointed out in Paris last year,” Hart said. 

He added the presence of indigenous leaders at the talks is to ensure that knowledge is incorporated into the Paris Agreement and what it means for major projects back in Canada.

Canada Fought to Include #IndigenousRights in Paris Agreement But Will Those Rights Be Protected Back Home? https://t.co/ON7QWn98r2 #cdnpoli

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) November 16, 2016

Canada’s Arctic Disproportionately Impacted by Climate Change

Natan Obed, president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said Canada will actually miss out on the true rewards of climate action if it excludes indigenous perspectives.

“For the Inuit, in our homeland, we are on the forefront of climate change,” Obed said.

“When we talk about a global temperature increase of 1.5 or two degrees Celsuis, we don’t quite know what that means for the Arctic.”

Scientists have documented Arctic air temperatures warming twice as fast as elsewhere on the planet. Obed said the model his community has been using predicts the Arctic will experience two to four times the rate of warming felt elsewhere.

Inuit people in Canada’s north lay claim to a combined territory of 3.2 million square kilometres.

“That’s roughly the size of India,” Obed said.

Warmer temperatures and melting sea ice have dire consequences for the Inuit, he said.

Climate change “has a fundamental impact on our way of life and cultures as well as the way we transmit knowledge between generations.”

Obed said his people are inherently coastal people, who have carved out a unique way of life in a region of the world covered by ice for most months of the year.

“We have a connection to the ice that is beyond most cultures and societies in the world. So this issue matters to us more than anything.”

Echoing the concerns of other indigenous leaders at the panel event, Obed said these unique indigenous concerns should not be left out of Canada’s larger climate conversation.

“If we can't have policy space about an area that is most affected, that has an indigenous people whose society and way of life is threatened, then I doubt Canada will get the most it can from climate action.”

Images: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau via Prime Minister's Photo Gallery

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Last year the Canadian government enjoyed a positive reception at the UN climate talks in Paris. After 10 years of climate inaction under a Conservative government, the international community anticipated the new Liberal government would mean good things for the nation’s climate governance.

But Canada’s contribution to the world’s first climate treaty remains “inadequate” according to a new report released by the Carbon Action Tracker in light of the climate talks.

The Paris Agreement, designed to limit global warming to as close to 1.5 degrees Celsius as possible, was signed in France last year and ratified, with incredible speed, less than one year later on November 4. Although a proud signatory of the agreement, Canada will not meet its climate targets, according to the new analysis.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau adopted the same climate targets as the previous Stephen Harper government, pledging to reduce Canada’s emissions 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

“Under its current policies, Canada will miss both its 2020 pledge and its 2030 [Nationally Determined Contribution] targets by a wide margin,” Climate Action Tracker states.

The group estimates that based on current climate policies Canada’s emissions will increase by three to 18 per cent by 2030.

Last month Trudeau announced a national carbon tax that will price carbon at $10/tonne in 2018 and increase to $50/tonne by 2022.

But according to the analysis of four prominent environmental groups, Canada’s fossil fuel subsidies eliminate the supposed benefits of that carbon tax.

Canada Must Phase Out $3.3 Billion In Fossil Fuel Subsidies

“It makes no sense to put a price on carbon while continuing to give handouts to oil and gas companies,” Alex Doukas, senior campaigner and author with Oil Change International, told DeSmog Canada. 

“That's like pouring water on the fire with one hand while spraying gasoline on it with the other.” 

Doukas added Trudeau promised to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies when campaigning last year.

“Now his government has to deliver.”

Canada first committed to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies in 2009 along with other G20 nations. That commitment was later affirmed at a 2015 G7 meeting and named as a priority for Finance Minister Bill Morneau in a mandate letter from Trudeau.

“Unless Canada phases out massive subsidies to oil and gas companies, Trudeau’s carbon price will do little to encourage polluters to cut carbon emissions,” Dale Marshall, national program manager with Environmental Defence, said in Marrakech.

“The three billion dollars in annual subsidies could be put to much better use by investing in climate action, health care and other initiatives.”

In Marrakech, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna participated in the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, an international group pushing for more integrated market-based climate solutions.

“In light of Minister McKenna’s participation…we take the opportunity to remind Canada that leadership requires coherent fiscal policies,” Annie Bérubé, Director of Government Relations at Équiterre, said.

“Finance Minister Bill Morneau must announce a predictable phase-out of all remaining preferential tax treatment to the oil and gas sector starting in Budget 2017.”

Canada’s #ClimateAction Called ‘Inadequate’ at UN Climate Talks in #Marrakech https://t.co/KpTN378mXJ #cdnpoli @cathmckenna @JustinTrudeau

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) November 15, 2016

More Opportunity for Canadian Leadership at UN Climate Talks

She added there is some work to be done, however, to bridge the gap between Canada’s international climate commitments and decision-making domestically.

“This is a core question that Canada has to reconcile,” she said.

“Can we build a national climate plan that allows us to achieve the 2030 target with deeper reductions over time?”

Canada has come under harsh criticism recently for approving the Pacific Northwest LNG export terminal on the coast of B.C.  The LNG facility is estimated to be the largest single point source of emissions in Canada, adding the equivalent of 1.9 million cars to the roads.

Analysts have pointed out the approval of the LNG project is a serious obstacle to Canada meeting its climate commitments.

Flanagan said she sees an opportunity for Canada to really “do the math” on its climate targets.

“That’s really what this COP is about,” she said. “It’s about taking the rhetoric and turning it into plans that will drive the change we need to see.”

Image: COP22 signage in Marrakech, Morocco. Photo: Carol Linnitt/DeSmog Canada

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Canadian conservative commentator and climate science denialist Ezra Levant has won his battle with the United Nations to have staff from his media outlet accredited  to cover climate talks starting next week in Morocco.

Three staffers from Levant’s online outlet, The Rebel, were initially denied media accreditation for the COP22 talks in Marrakesh, after the UN described Rebel as “advocacy media”. The Financial Post is reporting that the UN has granted Rebel two spots, but Rebel is pushing back for a third.

Since hearing from the UN in early October, Levant has been campaigning furiously to force the UN to change its mind.  He gained support from three journalism groups, gathered 10,000 names on a petition and won the backing of Canada's environment minister, Catherine McKenna.

Levant even travelled to New York to hand the petition to Canada’s permanent mission to the United Nations.

But along the way, Levant has repeatedly shown footage from the last major climate change talks in Paris to bolster his case. Levant says the footage shows journalists in the Paris media room “jumping for joy”. This, according to Levant, shows their lack of objectivity and just why his "real journalists" should be allowed inside the COP22 talks as media. 

But DeSmog has investigated the origins of the clip and can confirm that the footage does not show journalists and was not filmed in “the media room”, as Levant has repeatedly claimed.

The clip was originally filmed and shared on Twitter by a passing journalist  — Miranda Johnson, of The Economist — who has confirmed Rebel did not seek permission to use her footage and, if it had, it would have been refused. 

WE HAVE A #ParisAgreement pic.twitter.com/Xh7HSPWXSD

— Miranda Johnson (@MSLJeconomist) December 12, 2015

Instead, the clip shows a side room, well away from the media centre, where civil society groups who had campaigned for action on climate change for years had gathered to watch the final moments of the Paris talks.

Levant has told viewers: “Here’s a clip from the UN global warming convention last year showing journalists in the press room cheering.”

In another Rebel video, Levant says: “The most striking video clip of the entire Paris conference last year was when an international agreement was finally announced and the media room burst into applause and cheering. Some actually jumping for joy – you know, the way objective reporters do.”

DeSmog can also confirm the person seen “jumping for joy” was not a journalist either, but a media liaison officer for a climate action group.

Other media outlets have asked for permission to use Johnson's footage, including US outlet Fox News, but all have been refused.

Levant has used the footage at least five times in at least four different videos posted on YouTube and his Rebel media website. Each time, Levant says it shows journalists in the media room.

In a segment with one of his formerly “banned” staff members, Sheila Gunn Reid, Levant says the UN is “terrified that we will turn the camera on the UN approved journalists… the pets.”

He adds:  “We can’t show this enough.  I want to show the clip of the official approved accredited journalists, who are more objective than you Sheila, jumping for joy at some climate announcement…. That’s the media filing room. That’s the press room. Every person in that room was a journalist that met [the UN officer] Nick Nuttall’s standards.”

As well as using the footage to gain support from the public, Levant also uses the clip to support a crowdfunding campaign to send Rebel staff to cover a different UN conference in India later this month. In that video, Levant again describes the “reporters” in the footage as “squealing like teenagers at a Justin Bieber concert.”

DeSmog has approached Levant for comment.

Rebel is currently crowfunding its trip to Marrakech.

Rebel writes: "One thing we won’t scrimp on is security, though — especially in a place like Morocco. So we need a driver/handler to make sure we get to and from the conference site each day safely." This, despite visitors to COP22 having access to official shuttle buses running 12 routes, each route covered from 6am until midnight and, in peak hours, running every 15 minutes.

Levant is trying to raise more than CA$27,000 for the India trip, including $14,000 to hire a private security firm. And The Rebel is crowdfunding for Morocco as well.

DeSmog has reported that Rebel’s intentions in Morocco were not to mainly report on the proceedings, but instead to film journalists.

Levant told an audience that Rebel had joined with climate science denier Marc Morano, of the US-based Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), who Levant appointed an “honorary Rebel” at the talks.

CFACT, which has received funding from fossil fuel interests, has been accredited as a non-governmental organisation at several UN climate summits.

According to a CFACT Facebook post, “Rebel wanted to join CFACT at the UN climate conference in Marrakech."

One of the three Rebel staff members heading to Morocco, Sheila Gunn Reid, told an Edmonton audience in September 2016 that “people who believe in global warming really seem like a doomsday cult.”  

Main image: Ezra Levant. Credit: University of Saskatchewan/Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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Conservative Canadian broadcaster Ezra Levant is appealing to the public and his prime minister to intervene in a row with organisers of the upcoming United Nations climate conference.

Levant wanted to send three staff members from his “The Rebel” media company to the COP22 talks taking place next month in Marrakech, Morocco.

The Rebel had applied to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change for media accreditation but, according to screenshots shared by Levant, the UN has declined the application because “advocacy media outlets do not qualify for media accreditation.”

DeSmog can reveal that Levant’s crew intended to film other journalists at press conferences and outside the venue, in an apparent attempt to expose what Levant thinks is a hypocritical media.

At a Rebel event in Edmonton in September, U.S.-based climate science denialist Marc Morano, who would be an "honorary Rebel journalist" in Morocco, told an audience member he intends to “put on a disguise” at the conference.

Levant has appealed for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to intervene in the “ban” and has support from three Canadian journalism associations, which may not agree with Levant’s politics, but also don’t condone the UN’s decision. Levant has also started an online petition and had his lawyers send a legal letter to the UN.

The three journalists whose applications were declined are reportedly Rebel’s Alberta bureau chief Sheila Gunn Reid, producer Meaghan MacSween and cameraman Alex Jones.

But what was The Rebel going to do in Morocco?  Was it there to report the proceedings, or something else?

In September, Levant’s The Rebel hosted a public screening of Marc Morano's climate science denial film “Climate Hustle” in Edmonton.

In audio recorded by a DeSmog researcher in attendance, Levant tells the audience that “we will be asking questions and turning the camera around to show the other journalists,” in an apparent attempt to ridicule reporters who he describes as “cheerleaders” for the UN.

During a Q&A session following the Climate Hustle screening, Levant says that Marc Morano will be an “honorary Rebel journalist” in Morocco. Morano is Communications Director of the US “think tank” Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, which has received funding from Exxon in the past. (Morano has received official credentials alongside CFACT colleagues for several UN climate conferences, including Paris, Lima and Warsaw.)

Answering questions later, Morano told one audience member that he would “put on a disguise” to avoid being recognised in Morocco.

"We're just going there to expose them … They're not gonna expect us to be there … They might recognize me, but … I'll put on a disguise," Morano says. 

He also tells the audience member that "we could still film them and I could give a lot of questions for them to ask as well, so … there will be a lot of opportunities at this thing," although it is not clear if he is referring directly to Rebel staff.

Fascist Science Guy?

Ezra Levant tells the audience in Edmonton: “[inaudible].. to show the contrast of how they say ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ while their limos idle outside. While they say ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ while dining in five-star restaurants.”

When answering questions, Rebel’s Gunn Reid referred to US science broadcaster Bill Nye as “Bill Nye the fascist science guy.” 

Later, she told the audience: “These people who believe in global warming really seem like a doomsday cult and I think that’s what’s driving the urgency for them.”

“Eventually, after all the predictions fail, the people in the white pajamas waiting for the comet to come are going to figure out that the comet is never coming.”

DeSmog has asked the UNFCCC for a response to The Rebel's protest. DeSmog has also approached Marc Morano and Ezra Levant for comment.

In a legal letter sent to the UN, Rebel Media's lawyers write: "The denial of accreditation to representatives from The Rebel fundamentally denies not only The Rebel from following facts and opinions on the subject of climate change to be expressed, but it also denies the opportunity of Canadians and others to receive those views through the media."

Main image: Ezra Levant. Credit: Flickr/University of Saskatchewan CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.