Canada aims to reestablish itself as an environmental defender at the UN climate talks
OTTAWA: Canada aims to reestablish itself as an environmental defender at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen by calling on all major emitters to cut carbon emissions, but distrust lingers as its own emissions soar.
Canada signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol but has so far failed to meet its corresponding obligations. The December 7-18 meeting in Copenhagen aims to hammer out a pact to replace the treaty before it expires in 2012.
Proof the government is mindful of its reputation as a climate change laggard came this week when Environment Minister Jim Prentice vigorously disputed reports of a "walk-out" by developing G77 countries representatives at a recent UN climate change meeting in Bangkok to protest Canada's position.
Ottawa also announced funding for two carbon capture projects in western Alberta province, where development of vast oil sands has been hotly criticized for pumping huge amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.
The Canadian government defends its "balanced approach" to fighting climate change while not jeopardizing its economic growth.
Over the past decade, Canada has outperformed other Group of Seven industrialized nations in areas of job creation and fiscal prowess and is forecast to lead the G7 out of the current recession.
"Canada will undertake efforts to meet our global responsibilities in a way that balances environmental protection and economic prosperity for Canadians, and is comparable to the level of effort of other industrialized countries," Prentice spokeswoman Sujata Raisinghani told AFP.
"We have committed to reducing our total greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent from 2006 levels by 2020, leading to a 60-70 percent reduction from 2006 levels by 2050."
But the figures are less significant when compared to the efforts of other nations and political-economic blocs -- notably the European Union, which is to cut emissions by up to 30 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels, as required by the Kyoto Protocol.
If pegged to 1990 levels, Canadian carbon reductions would amount to a mere three percent, critics note. And carbon emissions are currently up more than 35 percent from 1990.
Raisinghani said Canada "looks forward to an ambitious and comprehensive outcome in Copenhagen." But Ottawa also hopes the result is "flexible, so all countries can choose tools and policies that suit their unique circumstances."
Environmentalists accuse Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government, rooted in oil-rich Alberta province, of misleading Canadians with strong language on tackling climate change but actually doing little to combat warming.
Ottawa "is obstructing an ambitious political accord" at the climate talks, said Virginie Lambert Ferry of Greenpeace Canada.
Greenpeace protested the oil sands development by twice halting operations this month with sit-ins at facilities.
Harper's government has consistently said the Kyoto Protocol targets agreed by a previous administration were unattainable, and that it had no choice but to follow Washington's lackluster lead or risk economic ruin.
Some have expressed fears Canadian companies would face a trade disadvantage since US companies would not be affected by the Kyoto Protocol because the United States has not yet signed it. The two nations are the world's largest trading partners.
This argument has been weakened by US President Barack Obama's revision of the policies of his predecessor, George W. Bush, vowing to take a tougher stand against climate change.
But there still remains little wiggle room for policymakers in Ottawa as Canada's oil sands -- the single largest source of carbon emissions in this country -- are coveted by the United States and China as a secure source of energy.
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