Ottawa Wants Kyoto Softened

[Pierre the Great]

Ottawa wants Kyoto softened

In report to UN, Tories argue second phase of climate pact should be more lenient

BILL CURRY

OTTAWA -- In its first official statement to the world on climate change, the Conservative government has signalled it is willing to keep Canada in the Kyoto Protocol after 2012, but only if it gets breaks on meeting the targets.

A Canadian report to the United Nations says the second phase of the Kyoto accord should be more lenient, with longer deadlines, voluntary targets and exceptions for Canada's resource-based economy.

The Conservatives have said they will not meet Canada's targets for the first phase of the accord -- which ends in 2012 -- to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, the main cause of global warming. The submission is the first signal that the government is open to remaining in Kyoto for the post-2012 period and outlines Canada's bargaining position for staying within the accord.

"The Protocol must be more effective if it is to continue as a key instrument to address global climate change . . ." the report says. "Different types of commitments and longer time horizons should be considered." It lists "voluntary" commitments as an example.

"Any future approaches to commitments should reflect a country's specific national circumstances. Considerations such as the nature of a country's economy (e.g. resource-based and/or energy intensive) temperature and distance between urban centres are important. Some countries are also net energy exporters whose exports provide other countries with opportunities to switch to cleaner sources of fuel."

Environmentalists say most countries are pushing for the accord's second phase to be more stringent, with stiffer penalties for countries that fail to meet their targets.

The previous Liberal government made a commitment that by the end of the first phase of Kyoto, Canada would reduce its emissions to 6 per cent below the levels it was producing in 1990.

Environment Minister Rona Ambrose said the latest figures show that Canada is producing 35 per cent more emissions than the target level. "We cannot meet the targets that the Liberals negotiated, but that does not mean that we give up the fight."

"We are committed to real progress on cleaning up Canada's environment and on reducing our greenhouse gas emissions," she added.

Ms. Ambrose, Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn and Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon addressed the House of Commons yesterday as part of an opposition day debate on the Kyoto Protocol triggered by the Bloc Québécois.

While they said their overall environmental plan is still a work in progress, its main elements are becoming clear.

The Conservative ministers said all federal dollars for the environment will be spent in Canada to help the private sector take the lead in developing technology for such things as cleaner use of fossil fuels and renewable energy.

Canada could then boost its economy by selling the new technology to other countries that are eager to reduce pollution and greenhouse gases.

"Frankly, when Canada makes up 2 per cent of the global emissions, I believe that the best way for Canada to participate in the global environment is by developing and deploying clean technologies to those countries that actually are the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions; that is the United States, China and India," Ms. Ambrose said.

The Environment Minister will be in Bonn, Germany, on Monday to chair a meeting of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, the precursor to Kyoto. The Kyoto Protocol has legally binding targets, while the Convention on Climate Change is voluntary. The two-week meeting will also include talks on the accord.

Louise Comeau of the Sage Centre, one of several environmentalists who have called on Ms. Ambrose to resign as chair of the climate-change talks, said she was encouraged by some of the government's comments in the House about investing in green technology.

However, she criticized Canada's position heading in to next week's Kyoto talks.

"What Canada is proposing is that it should take on a weaker obligation after 2012," she said. "It appears that it might include a weaker target, but also go as far as being voluntary and as far as not even being part of the UN system. So all of those things are contrary to where the science is asking us to go and contrary to where most other countries are going."

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was ratified by 189 countries, including the United States and China. There are 163 countries in the Kyoto Protocol, representing 62 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Greenhouse gases are primarily caused by the use of fossil fuels. The increase of such gases in the atmosphere is widely viewed to be raising the average temperature of the globe, triggering the melting of the Arctic ice cap, increased drought and extreme weather such as hurricanes.

The minister will be leaving the Bonn meeting before the beginning of a second set of talks focused on what Kyoto will look like in its second phase, after 2012.