Canada a Driving Force to ditch Kyoto

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change opened in Bonn on 15 May to plot the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol, with Canada as Chairman.

Canada will not support attempts by other countries to set deeper emission-reduction targets for the Kyoto Protocol’s second phase says the Toronto Globe and Mail in an "Exclusive" ( but not unexpected) story. Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions are now 35% above its 1990 base levels—under Kyoto, its target is to be 6% below 1990 levels by 2012.

Since the early 90s Canada's CO2 emissions rose faster than the US in percentage terms caused mainly by a booming economy and population growth. Some Canuck pols saw themselves as superior to the US because Canada had joined the Kyoto Accord. Canadian government's of any stripe have no intention to inflict big costs on Canadian industry or the Canadian public in order to meet Kyoto obligations.

The tar sands oil production in Alberta (see previous posts) generates a lot of CO2 (by using natural gas to heat the deposits to release the crude oils) and so the continued increase in tar sands oil is going to drive up Canadian CO2 emissions even higher.

The Mail & Globe also says that Canada is threatening to pull out of the UN climate-change process unless it starts includes the United States and all other major polluters.

After the shambles of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme expect many EU nations to quietly join Canada in ditching Kyoto. Don't expect headlines to surface however .... softly softleeeeee