Canada has a legally binding commitment; unwarranted fear hampering efforts

UN official challenges Harper on Kyoto effects
CanWest News Service / January 23, 2007

OTTAWA -- A top United Nations official is challenging Prime Minister Stephen Harper's claim that immediate action to fight climate change by honouring the Kyoto Protocol would translate into disaster for the Canadian economy.

"No, I don't think it would devastate the Canadian economy, if Canada were to make optimal use of the instruments that are available under the international agreement," said Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, in a telephone interview.

Canada has a legally binding commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by six per cent below 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012 under Kyoto, an update to the original UN framework convention. But the pollution that is linked to global warming rose by nearly 30 per cent in Canada while the Liberals were in power.

While Harper has insisted his government wants to do more for the environment, he has turned his back on honouring the agreement, predicting the targets would devastate the economy because of its effect on Canada's energy exports.

However, de Boer, who was attending a conference on sustainable development in India, said an unwarranted fear of economic hardship is seriously hampering efforts to fight global warming.