Ottawa yet to calm energy industry over Kyoto
Date: 17-Oct-02
Country: CANADA
George Anderson, deputy to Natural Resources Minster Herb Dhaliwal, met with so-called large emitters of greenhouse gases to explain the government's latest thinking on how they might cut emissions, while moderating the financial impact.
"We continue to have a huge number of questions about this and concern about the time lines we're on," said Pierre Alvarez, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, the oil industry's main lobby group.
"But this is the second or third time he's been through and I think they are making an effort to understand the concerns."
The mostly western Canadian-based industrial interests have sharply criticized Prime Minister Jean Chretien's plans to put ratification of Kyoto to a vote in Parliament this year, saying meeting commitments will hurt their ability to compete and will send investment dollars to countries not bound by the accord.
Alvarez declined to give specifics about what was discussed at the meeting in Calgary.
But he said Anderson did not reveal Ottawa's overall plan for how Canada will cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming, only general policy items related to large emitters.
Chretien has promised an action plan, complete with cost estimates, will be ready when federal and provincial ministers meet in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Oct. 21.
Under Kyoto, Canada must cut greenhouse gas emissions to 6 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. The top buyer of its energy exports, the United States, has walked away from the international treaty, first signed in 1997.
It appears Canada will not be able to meet Kyoto commitments solely through domestic emission cuts, meaning large emitters would likely have to buy credits from elsewhere in a trading scheme, Alvarez said.
"That is a huge issue because we're price takers and have no capacity to flow through costs, and we're operating in a world market," he said.
On Friday, Ottawa detailed four possibilities on the costs of implementing Kyoto, the most severe being a loss of 240,000 jobs and C$21 billion ($13 billion) in lost economic output.
It said the most likely scenario, with governments financing costs by cutting spending in other areas, was a loss of 60,000 jobs and C$5 billion of lost gross domestic product by 2010.
Environment Minister David Anderson said the estimates did not factor in job and other economic benefits from moving to cleaner energy and more efficient use.
