Canada Stresses Commitment to Kyoto Climate Pact
Date: 17-Jul-06
Country: UK
Author: Randall Palmer
Harper was speaking in Britain, where he met Prime Minister Tony Blair for breakfast en route to a summit in Russia of the Group of Eight industrial nations, where issues on the agenda include Kyoto and the Middle East.
On the question of Israel's military action this week in Lebanon in its search for two captured Israeli soldiers, Harper had said on Thursday the incursion, as well as strikes on Gaza, were measured self-defence.
He said on Friday the situation would only be resolved by setting up a state of Palestine alongside Israel.
"There's total international unanimity on that," Harper said.
On the global environment, Harper insisted that Canada was not abandoning the Kyoto Protocol even though it has said it would not be able to meet the mandated reduction in emissions, and he found an understanding response from Blair.
The announcement by Harper's Conservative government, after it beat the Liberals in the January election, that it would not be meeting Kyoto emission reduction targets took environmentalists aback, particularly in light of the earlier US withdrawal from Kyoto.
But Harper said the situation facing Canada, far exceeding the targets it had signed up for, differed from that of Britain.
"We don't differ on the philosophy of climate change. Our differences are the facts that our two countries are presented with," he told a news conference with Blair.
"Prime Minister Blair's government has taken steps over the years to reach its targets. The previous (Liberal) government of Canada did not do that and has put us in a position where they're not attainable. That doesn't mean we're abandoning the process. Canada is fully engaged."
On Thursday, French President Jacques Chirac had voiced concern, in an article published in various newspapers, about the "weakening of the international regime for climate change." But Blair was considerably more conciliatory.
"We are able to meet our Kyoto targets without problems for our economy," he said.
"Other countries are in a more difficult position, and my aim is not to start pointing the finger at people and saying this country is doing the right thing, this country isn't."
He said the world needed to find a way that allowed economies still to grow competitively, and it was now important to establish a framework for after 2012, the end-date under Kyoto for reductions. He said the G8 could help work toward that along with major developing countries who are also attending the summit, including China, India and Brazil.
