Ad mocks Alta. oilsands at UN climate meeting

An ad in a Mexican daily newspaper on Monday mocks Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner’s attendance at the United Nations conference on climate change. 

A Canadian environmental group designed and paid for the ad, which features a grinning Renner wearing a sombrero. Under the photo, a fake oil association thanks the minister for keeping oil flowing from the oilsands.

Renner is in Cancun to defend the oilsands at the International Climate Conference and to talk with other countries about carbon capture and storage.

The ad appeared in Novedades de Quintana Roo, a Cancun newspaper.

"The mood going into Cancun, expectations were fairly low," said Gillian McEachern, a spokeswoman for the group Environmental Defence. "People were disappointed coming out of Copenhagen. We're trying to use a little bit of humour to lighten the mood but draw attention to a serious issue.

"It is just trying to be a bit tongue in cheek and lighten it up a bit, but coming back to the fact that this is actually a quite serious issue and we need governments in Canada to start taking it seriously and acting."

The Cancun conference is heading into its final days. About 15,000 officials are taking part.