Canada's climate summit position dangerous: New report shows policies at UN summit will increase emissions

October 29, 2000 - VANCOUVER - Controversial climate policies pursued by Canada at the upcoming United Nations Climate Summit could drastically increase greenhouse gas emissions and undermine the intent of the Kyoto Protocol, a new report has found.

The peer-reviewed David Suzuki Foundation report, Negotiating the Climate: Canada and the International Politics of Global Warming, shows Canada's negotiators are on a path that could subvert the intent of the Kyoto Protocol. Under the terms of the protocol, industrialized countries committed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2 per cent but many, including Canada, are instead emphasizing broad loopholes. These loopholes could allow countries to technically meet the Kyoto targets while their actual emissions could be 15 per cent higher.

From November 13-24, more than 170 nations will meet in The Hague to finalize the Kyoto Protocol. Currently, Canada, the U.S. and other industrialized nations are trying to include controversial provisions that include emission credits for nuclear power plant exports, forestry practices that use forests as carbon sinks and for the purchase of 'hot air' -- credits created when some countries adopted targets higher than their current and projected emissions.

"Prime Minister Chretien and the federal government are on the wrong track," said Dr. David Suzuki, prominent scientist and broadcaster. "After the Walkerton tragedy and the Toronto garbage fiasco, more and more Canadians are realizing the fundamental role the environment plays in our health and our well-being. With a federal election underway, we hope Canadians will express these concerns to all party leaders."

"Canada's performance and negotiating positions are at odds with the words of Prime Minister Chretien in a recent government publication on climate change," said Gerry Scott, Director of the Foundation's Climate Change Campaign. "As these critical negotiations approach, Ottawa must match the Prime Minister's pledge when he said, 'We need a solution that will help reduce global warming.'"

"Yet Canada is still far from meeting its Kyoto commitment -- emissions in Canada in 1998 were 13 per cent higher than 1990 levels and are still rising today -- and the Canadian demands for the protocol will take us further down the wrong road," said Scott.

Scientific consensus on the dangers of climate change is growing and the effects of warming are already being felt in Canada. Hardest hit will be the Arctic, where temperatures have been steadily climbing over the past 30 years. Polar bears living in northern Manitoba and on the ice floes of Hudson Bay are already suffering significant weight loss as disappearing ice affects their feeding habits. The changing climate will also cause more extreme weather, increased smog, lower water levels and more forest fires.

"The strategies that Canada is pushing fail to genuinely reduce greenhouse gas pollution," said Scott. "The Canadian government is trying to weaken the Kyoto Protocol. We need to meet our international commitments and we should start by accepting the clear intent of the 1992 Climate Treaty and the protocol, instead of pushing for loopholes."

Scott said the protocol must be a solid footing for the more than 50 per cent cuts in emissions that scientists say are needed to slow climate change.

The report, Negotiating the Climate, presents an overview of several critical aspects of the treaty negotiations, including a look at the evolution of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol and Canada's approach to emissions reductions.

The full report and a brief position paper are available at www.davidsuzuki.org/cop6report.htm Hard copies of both are available on request.
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For more information and to arrange interviews, contact:
Sarah Marchildon
Media Liaison
David Suzuki Foundation
(604) 732-4228, ext. 237