Canada has been awarded a Fossil of the Day “award” on the first day of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.

“Canada garnered today’s award for its unwavering commitment to stand firm in its inaction throughout these negotiations,” a media release states.

The summit, COP15 for short, opened today (December 7) and is scheduled to run through to December 18.

For the duration of the conference, the Fossil of the Day will be presented to whichever country has done the most to delay and otherwise disrupt negotiations for an agreement on a global reduction in carbon emissions. The recipient is determined by a vote conducted by a network of over 400 international and non-governmental organizations.

That coalition’s media release goes on to state: “Since announcing its emissions target in 2007 of reducing GHG emissions by 20% below the 2006 emission level (equivalent to 3 % below the 1990 level), the Harper government has consistently refused to adopt any regulatory framework to start reducing emissions, namely form the rapidly growing sector of tar sands.”

In bestowing the recognition on Canada, the group noted that in a December 4 speech in Montreal, Minister of the Environment Jim Prentice announced that the Conservative government “won't be swayed by the Copenhagen hype”.

Canada is represented at COP15 by Prentice and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who only agreed to travel to Copenhagen after U.S. President Barack Obama and Hu Jintao, the president of China, announced that they would attend.

Canada’s receiving of the first Fossil of the Day was not unexpected. The country was the Fossil of the Year in both 2007 and 2008. And in the weeks preceding COP15, the European press speculated that Canada will do everything it can to sabotage the talks.

This story has been updated to reflect revised information provided by the Climate Action Network.

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