Canada leaves Kyoto to avoid heavy penalties

Canada is to withdraw from the Kyoto accord on global warming in order to save billions of dollars in potential non-compliance penalties.

Peter Kent, environment minister, announced the decision on Monday just a few hours after returning to Ottawa from the climate change conference in Durban. He said the move had not been disclosed earlier because he had promised a senior UN official not to distract from the talks in Durban.

“Kyoto – for Canada – is in the past,” Mr Kent said. “As such, we are invoking our legal right to formally withdraw.”

The move had been widely expected but will nonetheless puncture the fragile mood of optimism at the end of the Durban talks

Delegates from almost 200 countries forged an 11th-hour agreement, spearheaded by the European Union, to cut greenhouse gas emissions under a global pact with “legal force”. In return, the EU and a handful of other wealthy countries promised to extend the life of the Kyoto protocol – the sole legally binding treaty committing developed countries to reduce emissions. Its main elements were due to expire in late 2012.

While Canada was one of the first Kyoto signatories in 1997, it has fallen far behind in complying with the agreement, which provides for a 5 per cent cut from 1990 levels of greenhouse gas emissions by 2012.

The Conservative government has spoken out against Kyoto since taking office in 2006, accusing the previous Liberal government of doing nothing to implement the treaty’s provisions. The rapid growth of the Alberta oil sands industry, among others, has also made it more difficult to reach the targets.

Mr Kent said that “while our government has taken action since 2006 to make real reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, under Kyoto Canada is facing radical and irresponsible choices if we are to avoid punishing, multibillion-dollar payments”.

For Canada to meet the Kyoto targets in 2012, he said, would require removing every motor vehicle from the roads.

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It is not clear how the government arrived at its calculation of penalties for non-compliance. Under Kyoto, countries that exceed their targets in the first commitment period have to make up for it in the second period, and may also lose the right to take part in emissions trading schemes .

Mr Kent said that Kyoto, which now covers less than 13 per cent of global emissions, “does not cover the world’s two largest emitters – the US and China” and would not work.

“It is now clear that Kyoto is not the path forward for a global solution to climate change; instead, it is an impediment.”

Mr Kent said that Canada would back the Durban initiative. “Our position has long been clear: we support a new international climate change agreement that includes commitments from all major emitters. That is the only way we are going to achieve real reductions and real results.”

Additional reporting by Pilita Clark in London