Kyoto Protocol In Canada

Canada was correct in withdrawing from its commitment to reducing emissions under the Kyoto Protocol because it should not have initially ratified the agreement. The responsibility for creating change within Canada has been passed from one government to the next, leading to successive governments failing to even attempt to meet Kyoto targets. With the United States not ratifying the agreement, Canada was at risk to severely damage the national economy by attempting to meet targets. Furthermore, the economic repercussions to design and implement a plan to attempt too meet that targets would have been disastrous. The Kyoto Protocol emerged in 1997 from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN FCCC), which provided legal and political criteria for international action related to climate change. The UN FCCC was originally signed in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit, and signatory nations returned to their negotiations in 1995 to discuss human impact on the changing climate (Grubb, Vrolijk, and Brack 1999, xxxiii). The signatories met …show more content…
Annex I countries were to introduce or expand policies and programs to create energy efficient sectors, promote sustainable practices in areas such as agriculture and transport, and promote and invest in renewable energy and related technologies (125). During the negotiation process to determine the terms of the Kyoto Protocol, there was some disagreement over the role of developing countries in climate change; industrialized countries are legally bound to reductions under the Kyoto Protocol, whereas developing and newly emerging economies are not (Paterson 2011,