PRESS CONFERENCE BY CANADA

Today was a great day for the planet, for Canada and for the world, David Anderson, Canada's Minister of the Environment, proclaimed to correspondents this morning, as he announced his country's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 

Speaking at a Headquarters press conference, he said Canada had been at the forefront of the international response to what was a global problem ever since the first United Nations-sponsored conference on the environment, held in Stockholm in 1972.  In 1979, the first World Climate Conference was convened, leading to the establishment of the World Climate Programme.  In that year, Canada set up the Canadian Climate Programme Board to provide a national forum to allow a domestic discussion with its provinces and territories and with the various sectors of its society on climate issues.

In 1988, he recalled, Canada hosted a Conference on the Changing Atmosphere in Toronto, during what was then the warmest summer on record.  The Conference ended with a resolution recommending the reduction of CO2 emissions by 20 per cent from 1988 levels by 2005.

Canada then played a leadership role in making the 1992 “Earth Summit” in Rio a success, he continued.  A main feature of the Summit was the adoption of the Climate Change Convention, which Canada ratified a few months later, committing itself to prevent dangerous human-induced interference with the climate.  In the Convention, developed countries also committed to adopt policies and measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions and to enhance greenhouse gas sinks and reservoirs, with a view to stabilizing emissions at 1990 levels by 2000.

Realizing that voluntary action was not enough, countries engaged in international negotiations leading to the conclusion of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, by which developed countries committed to targets and timetables for the reduction of emissions and agreed to the architecture for long-term actions to reach the ultimate goal of the Convention of avoiding dangerous human influence on the climate.

In Kyoto, he said, Canada was at the forefront of discussions to ensure that the Protocol would be environmentally comprehensive.  In subsequent international meetings in The Hague, Bonn and Marrakech to determine the rules for the Kyoto Protocol, Canada was a leader in maintaining the environmental integrity and the flexibility of the Protocol.  Under Canada's leadership, the carbon cycle of the biomass, in forests and agricultural soils, had been included, ensuring a comprehensive coverage of climate change measures, and the full flexibility of the various market mechanisms.

In parallel to being active in international discussions, Canada had been working very hard domestically, with all sectors of society, to develop its own national plan to meet its Kyoto target, he stated.  Those discussions had led to

the Climate Change Plan for Canada, which mapped out a comprehensive and detailed approach to the work that needed to be done.  It proposed a national goal -– for Canadians to become the most sophisticated and efficient consumers and producers of energy in the world, and leaders in the development of new, cleaner, climate-friendly technologies.

Today's ratification, he noted, followed a historic debate in Canada's Parliament, where a strong majority across party lines agreed that it do so.  Canada believed that global problems should be addressed by the United Nations and intended to be an active partner of the Organization.

Asked if his country would be able to bring about the necessary legislation to meet its goals, Mr. Anderson said that it was possible to achieve the climate change goals without any change in legislation.  While it might be desirable to improve legislation to take into account climate change measures, he did not currently see a need or envisage major change in the legislative front.  He believed Canada had environmental legislation in place which could be used.

As to what measures Canadians could expect to see in next spring's budget to implement Kyoto, he replied that he expected, not only in next year's budget, but also in all subsequent budgets, some incentive measures, as well as tax changes on the fiscal side.  He believed there were major economic opportunities that could be exploited as Canada became more energy efficient.

The Minister was also asked how he thought the liberal leadership race that was getting under way would affect the implementation of the Plan.  He said he doubted that there would be any negative impact on implementation.  The current Prime Minister, he noted, was a devoted believer in taking strong measures to achieve climate change goals.  It would be surprising to him if any leadership candidate did not commit him or herself to the plan that Canada had outlined.

Asked how soon sectoral agreements with industry, a key component of the Plan, would come about, Mr. Anderson said that the first of those would be coming about over the next four months.

As to Canada's efforts to bring other countries, such as the Russian Federation, on board, the Minister stated that the Russian Federation, which had been an important ally of Canada's, had indicated that it expected to ratify the Protocol by next June.  His Government would be in discussions with the Russian Federation between now and then.  The Russian Federation and Canada had a good deal in common with respect to the opportunity to use carbon sinks -- for example, trees, forests and agricultural lands.

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