Canada's withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol marks a slap in the face for marathon efforts to bring all countries under one legal roof in the fight against climate change, but the impact may be limited. Canada on Monday became the first country formally to quit the landmark 1997 treaty on global warming as it sought to avoid paying penalties of up to CAN$14 billion (US $13.6 billion) for missing targets on cutting carbon emissions.
The decision by conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government came barely a day after UN talks in Durban, South Africa ended in a general agreement to put all nations eventually under one climate treaty. Environmentalists say that binding action is vital to achieving the types of emission cuts that scientists warn are needed if the world is to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, including growing natural disasters. Josh Laughren, director of WWF-Canada's climate and energy program, said that the decision "really relegates Canada to the margins" of international climate diplomacy.
"On the heels of a fragile agreement in Durban, it doesn't breed hope. But in the end, even legally binding international treaties and protocols are only as good as the will of governments to implement them," he said. Canada joins the United States as the only major industrialised nation to shun the Kyoto Protocol. Former president George W. Bush rejected the treaty after taking office in 2001.
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