In May 2008 the federal government announced the appointment of Michael Martin as Canada’s Chief Negotiator and Ambassador for Climate Change. According to the original press release announcing Mr. Martin’s appointment, the role of the Ambassador for Climate Change will help Canada to maintain a strong presence in a number of international forums and contribute to policy development both at home and abroad. Mr. Martin’s background includes experience in foreign affairs and diplomacy. Notably, he has served abroad in Islamabad, Tokyo and Beijing.

Following the announcement of Mr. Martin’s appointment, the opposition parties were quick to point out that the Harper government had eliminated a similar position, the Ambassador for the Environment and Sustainable Development, approximately two years earlier.

Today, the Canadian ENGOs, including yours truly, had a chance to meet with the ambassador to discuss Canada’s contributions to the climate change negotiations. This was Ambassador Martin’s third week on the job and his third day at the UNFCCC negotiations. He emphasized that he is still in an information gathering stage of his job and seems open to hearing from ENGOs regarding their concerns and perspectives on Canadian policies.

Mr. Martin will certainly have his work cut out for him as the negotiations move forward. It will be no easy task to coordinate Canada’s positions at negotiations that will be taking place with increasing frequency as the parties attempt to reach a new agreement for the nest phase of the Kyoto Protocol. This is not to mention the countless other forums outside the UNFCCC – such as the G8, Bush’s Major Emitters Process, the APP, etc – that fall under his jurisdiction.

We wish Mr. Martin the best of luck and hope that he will be enabled to lead a bold rethinking of Canada’s role in this process. If Canada is truly serious about preventing dangerous climate change it’s past time to show it. A leadership role means commitment to a goal (2˚C would be a good start) and leading by example. This means serious domestic targets – based on science, not excuses! – and serious commitments to financing adaptation and technology transfer. Anything less does not deserve its own “ambassador.”