(Ottawa) Leading Canadian environmental groups are calling on the Prime Minister to keep his commitment to the Kyoto Protocol in response to revelations that the Government is proposing to dramatically weaken restrictions on industrial emissions.
According to a Canadian Press story Sunday, Natural Resources Canada is planning to require large industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by just 8 megatonnes (Mt) compared to the 73 Mt that the Government said it would require of large industry in the Climate Change Plan for Canada, released in November 2002.
"After two years of secret negotiations and intense lobbying, bureaucrats have caved in to pressure from oil and other sectors to effectively abandon the Kyoto Protocol," said John Bennett on behalf of the Climate Action Network of Canada. "In the midst of a massive government media campaign calling upon Canadians to reduce their personal emissions, the Prime Minister must insist that Canada's biggest and richest polluters do their share."
The David Suzuki Foundation, Greenpeace, the Pembina Institute, the Sierra Club of Canada, the Conservation Council of New Brunswick and the Saskatchewan Environmental Society — all members of the Climate Action Network of Canada — wrote last week to the Prime Minister to demand a credible and effective Kyoto plan, including mandatory emission reductions by industry in keeping with its 50% share of national emissions.
The 73 Mt reduction target is being trimmed to just 8 Mt in three ways. First, the Government is proposing to relieve industry of any responsibility for a 29 Mt emissions increase caused by higher industrial production, mainly in oilsands. Second, the Government is proposing to reduce the impact of its planned targets-and-trading system for industry from 55 Mt to 37 Mt. Third, the Government is double counting 18 Mt of reductions from other initiatives intended to reduce industrial emissions.
The Government proposal would allow emissions from large industry to rise from an estimated 262 Mt in 1990 to 332 Mt in 2010, a 27% increase. Canada's Kyoto target is to reduce total emissions by 6% from the 1990 level.
Notes:
(1) The letter to the Prime Minister is available here.
(2) A chart showing how the 73 Mt is reduced to 8 Mt is available here.
Contacts:
Dale Marshall, David Suzuki Foundation 819-483-9890
Steven Guilbeault, Greenpeace 514-231-2650
Matthew Bramley, Pembina Institute 819-483-6288 ext. 26
John Bennett, Sierra Club of Canada 613-291-6888
David Coon, Conservation Council of New Brunswick 506 466-4033
Ann Coxworth, Saskatchewan Environmental Society 306 665-1915