Source: AFP hosted by Google
By Michel Comte
25 Jan 2011, OTTAWA — Canadians rank the Arctic as their top foreign policy priority and support shifting up to 3,000 troops from UN missions abroad to defend disputed claims in the far north, a survey showed Tuesday.
This view puts Canada at odds with its seven Arctic neighbors and has "ominous implications" for cooperation in the resource-rich region, the EKOS poll's authors warned.
The results, published by the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and the Walter & Duncan Gordon Foundation, show that while Canadians say they welcome working with other countries, a "clear majority" also wants to increase Canada's military presence in the Arctic.
Forty-three percent of Canadians said their government should pursue a firm line in defending Canadian sections of the Arctic.
This hard line was echoed by 36 percent of respondents in Iceland, 34 percent in Russia and 10 percent or less in the United States, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark.
Fifty-eight percent of Canadians also said they support a strengthened military presence in the north to protect against international threats.
"Canadians see the Arctic as our foremost foreign policy priority and one which should be resourced accordingly," said the study, noting that most respondents favor shifting military resources to the region rather than deploying them to other conflict zones.
For the complete article, please see AFP hosted by Google.
Stories of clear skies and wildlife conquering urban areas might provide much needed comfort during these uncertain times as the health crisis unfolds. But in Brazil, where climate and environmental issues already lack attention and resources, the pandemic underscores the next crisis.
Solutions to the current COVID-19 crisis need to be aligned to those of the climate crisis for a global transformation towards more sustainability, resilience, equity, and justice. Climate diplomacy has the tools to achieve these objectives simultaneously.
In the central Sahel, states are mobilising to combat the impact of climate change as way of reducing conflict. But to respond suitably to growing insecurity, it is important to look beyond a simplistic equation linking global warming and resource scarcity to outbreaks of violence.
Between food losses and critical shortages, COVID-19 and climate change are testing a food system that critics say has lost its resilience to crises.