Ratification by CANADA took place on 17th December 2002, making Canada the 100th Party to the Protocol. Parliament voted Pro ratification by 195 to 77 on Monday 10th.
Canada
a close ally of the US in most of the negotiations, did not follow President George W. Bush's line of withdrawal from the Protocol and announced instead that it remained committed to the treaty. At present, Canada's ratification is expected to take place before the end of 2002, as pledged by Premier Chretien at the WSSD in early September. The debate remains vigorous.
The government has been under pressure from industry and some provinces, which have led to a long process on ratification. Prime Minister Jean Chretien said earlier in 2002 that "The goal of the government is to ratify Kyoto - eventually - when we're ready and we're not ready today." (source). In early June, the government then announced the creation of a consultation process on the issue. During the course of June, some 14 workshops were held all over the country. A final report was prepared for mid-August. The stakeholder process could lead to a decision on ratification by autumn at the earliest. However, Premier Chretien reiterated his reluctance in August 2002, stating that a final decision may not be taken this year (source).
At the WSSD, Premier Chretien used the international audience to annoounce that he intended to have the Parliament vote on ratification before the end of the year, a move that took many abroad and at home by surprise. Naturally, Canadian opponents of Kyoto replied to this announcement with strong lobbying of their own. And unfortunately, it seems that Canada is still clinging to theidea of geeting even more free credits for its energy exports.
Recently, supporters of Kyoto are coming out in force. Green groups sent a letter to the PM, and electricity provider Hydro-Québec issued a pro-ratification statement. The province of Manitoba announced it would overachieve its own regional climate target. Its emissions are at an impressive minus 18% from 1990 levels. Canada's Financial Minister Fanley expressed his concern recently that it may "cost more in the long run not to spend money on reducing greenhouse gases" (source). And regional Premier Okalik of Canada's Arctic province Nunavut sees his province's survival at risk from climate change, as glaciers melt in warmer temperatures. Manitoba Premier Gary Doer and Quebec Premier Bernard Landryare also in favour of Canada's ratification.
In mid-August, 96 Liberal MPs presented a letter to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien that stated "their unequivocal support for ratifying the Kyoto Protocol on climate change before the end of the year." (source) The letter says: "If we turn our back on the world we will lose faith both domestically and internationally. We are convinced that climate change will be one of the defining issues of our generation, that we have reached the hour of decision, and that it is the duty of Parliament to safeguard and enhance the present and future interests of our nation.
For these reasons, we, the undersigned members of the National Liberal Caucus, reaffirm our government's commitment to ratify the Kyoto Protocol in 2002."
In the international negotiations, Canada has made an unfortunate move by demanding additional credits for the export of natural gas to the USA. The argument goes that the burning of imported gas from Canada leads to lower carbon dioxide emissions in the USA. These "cleaner energy export credits" are a blunt attempt to appease the energy producing provinces and their industries and must be rejected straight out of hand. There are no environmental benefits in this proposal. On the contrary, it would result in a factual renegotiation of the Kyoto targets, thus leading to higher global emissions. Climate Action Network (CAN) has compiled a detailed paper on the reasons why Canada's demand is unreasonable and outright dangerous. Download: Canada's Trojan Horse: "cleaner energy export credits"
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