In the past two weeks, Environment Minister Rona Ambrose has come under scathing attack for deciding to forego setting new emissions reduction targets when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012 and for standing against extending Kyoto until and unless all major polluters set emissions targets.
NDP leader Jack Layton said Canada’s position had sabotaged the international climate change conference in Bonn. NDP environmental critic Nathan Cullen decried Canada’s self-imposed isolationism and accused the government of having a “defeatist attitude”.
After all that bloviation, it transpires that Canada’s positions garnered widespread support at the conference.
Ottawa won the unanimous support of developed countries at the conference in Bonn, Germany, for its reluctance to set new targets for the post-2012 period. It also received backing from several countries in arguing there should be no new commitments for countries like Canada until major polluters such as China and India sign up for their own targets.
Rona Ambrose, the Environment Minister, said yesterday the international support is a sign Canada is playing a leadership role on Kyoto, rather than trying to sabotage it, as critics contend.
. . .
Another Canadian stance — that new commitments be delayed unless all major polluters, including developing countries such as China and India, also set targets — received the backing of a number of other countries.
"A problem that is global in cause and effect must be dealt with by all, not by some," said the Japanese submission to the conference.
The European Union pointed out that countries that have signed up for targets account for only a third of global emissions, and called for a broader response.
So, who’s the environmental saboteur now, Mr Layton? Who’s defeatist now, Mr Cullen?
Another nasty piece of environmentalist rhetoric was proven false. When Ms Ambrose and Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that many other countries besides Canada would fail to meet their Kyoto targets, Mr Cullen accused the Canadian government of lying.
Wrong again.
[A] Canadian summary report on the conference suggests many developed countries will struggle to meet their emissions targets. It says 19 of the 36 countries that committed to reduce their emissions have not yet submitted reports showing demonstrable progress, indicating they are having difficulties meeting those requirements.
The Canadian government comes away from the conference with the flexibility needed to move ahead with a “made in Canada” environmental plan.
via Bourque.
In a related story today, now that the Canadian federal government has won substantial international agreement with its position on environmental issues, Stephen Harper tells provinces that insist on clinging to Kyoto, “You’re on your own”: Provinces can pay Kyoto tab, PM says.
Previous related posts:
Posts
