Canada has announced it will withdraw from the Kyoto protocol. Peter Kent, minister of the environment, confirmed this last night.
Canada will be the first country to withdraw from the global treaty. “It does not represent a way forward for Canada,” Kent said.
The Kyoto Protocol was established in Japan in 1997 and restricts emissions of pollutants and fights climate change by more means.
He said meeting Canada’s obligations under Kyoto would cost $13.6bn (10.3bn euros): “That’s $1,600 from every Canadian family – that’s the Kyoto cost to Canadians, that was the legacy of an incompetent Liberal government”.
Kent also critizised that USA and China were not a part of Kyoto and therefore greenhouse emissions would continue to rise.
He also said that the text of the Durban agreement agreed this weekend “provides a loophole for China and India”, it represents “the way forward”.
See also: New climate deal at COP17