Ottawa wants flexibility on meeting Kyoto targets

Canada will stay within the Kyoto protocol after 2010 if it is allowed some flexibility on meeting the targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, local media reported Friday.

Canada indicated its position in a report to the United Nations saying the second phase of Kyoto should have longer deadlines, voluntary targets, and allow exceptions for Canada, said a report by The Globe and Mail.

The submission also outlines Ottawa's negotiating position for remaining within the accord.

The Protocol must be more effective if it is to continue as a key instrument to address global climate change. Different types of commitments and longer time horizons should be considered, the report said.

Any future approaches to commitments should reflect a country's specific national circumstances. Considerations such as the nature of a country's economy (e.g. resource-based and/or energy intensive) temperature and distance between urban centers are important. Some countries are also net energy exporters whose exports provide other countries with opportunities to switch to cleaner sources of fuel, said the report.

The current Conservative government have long said Canada's targets for Kyoto's first phase, which ends in 2012, are unattainable.

Canada's original commitment was to reduce emissions to six percent below 1990 levels.

But Environment Minister Rona Ambrose said the latest figures show Canada is producing 35 percent more emissions than this target.

The focus of the Conservative government's environment agenda will be helping the private sector take the lead in developing technology for such things as cleaner use of fossil fuels and renewable energy, officials say.

Canada could then boost its economy by selling the new technology to other countries that are looking to lower pollution and greenhouse gases, they say.

The Canadian environment minister will chair the United Nations Convention on Climate Change meeting in Bonn, Germany on Monday.

Source: Xinhua