Backgrounder

The road to Kyoto

Canada's proposal for Kyoto reflects the result of ongoing federal, provincial and territorial cooperation, consultations with stakeholders – including environmental NGOs and industry – and extensive work at the international level. It is one important step in a national venture that began nearly a decade ago and will continue into the new century.

A number of effective mechanisms have been created by the Government of Canada to consult Canadians. The federal Ministers of Environment and Natural Resources have both met with a variety of stakeholders with a broad range of perspectives and concerns. Since 1993, the Ministers of Environment and Natural Resources have held regular meetings on climate change with their provincial and territorial colleagues.

Governments, stakeholders, and individual Canadians have done a great deal over the past five years to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But it is clear that the current process is not enough. Additional steps will have to be taken by governments if we are to achieve our goal of not only stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions at 1990 levels, but reducing them beyond that. The Government of Canada is committed to a practical, step-by-step approach that is inclusive and realistic.

From the Toronto Conference on the Changing Atmosphere (1988) – which first put climate change on the international and Canadian domestic environmental agendas – Canada has been actively engaged in global work on climate change.

In 1992, more than 160 countries gathered for an Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. As part of this gathering, they signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Under the Convention, developed countries committed to taking action with the aim of returning their greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2000.

At the first Conference of the Parties (CoP), in 1995, Canada, along with other participants, adopted the "Berlin Mandate", which called for a strengthening of the 1992 commitments by the Kyoto meeting in 1997. At the second CoP, in 1996, Canada played a key role in developing the Geneva Declaration, which called for commitments in the post-2000 era to be legally binding. Canada also played an important role on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which found that the balance of scientific evidence indicates "a discernible human influence on global climate".

Domestically, climate change has been the subject of federal, provincial, and territorial concern and joint activity since 1988. The first National Action Strategy on Global Warming was released by Ministers in November 1990, two years before the United Nations' Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Since then, the Government of Canada has regularly consulted with the provinces and territories and with key stakeholders. The Non-Governmental Advisory Group on Climate Change was established to provide a mechanism for ongoing consultations and input. Their concerns and views have been consistently incorporated into the positions elaborated by the Government over time.

Provincial government representatives were present at the Earth Summit in 1992 when Canada and the nations of the world signed the Framework Convention on Climate Change. And federal, provincial, and territorial governments have been working together since to meet the commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.

In 1993, federal, provincial, and territorial ministers of energy and environment approved the Comprehensive Air Quality Management Framework Agreement, to be jointly implemented. That year, the first annual Joint Ministers' Meeting (JMM) of all Energy and Environment ministers was held, to review progress and provide direction on the Framework Agreement.

In 1994, Canada's National Report on Climate Change was developed collaboratively by federal, provincial, and territorial energy and environment officials and submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

In 1995, Canada's National Action Program on Climate Change (NAPCC) was tabled by federal, provincial, and territorial Energy and Environment ministers for the first CoP of the FCCC. The NAPCC establishes principles and direction for joint action on climate change.

One of the actions called for was Canada's Climate Change Voluntary Challenge and Registry program (VCR). The VCR now has more than 700 participants, accounting for 80 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions from business and industrial sectors.

In 1996, the Review of Canada's National Action Program on Climate Change was submitted to the Joint Meeting of the Ministers of Energy and the Environment.

In 1997, Canada's Second National Report, providing an update of Canada's situation and responses to climate change, was submitted to the United Nations FCCC. Also in 1997, the Canada Country Study, the first comprehensive examination of the potential impacts of climate change on the regions and sectors of Canada, was completed.

Over the past few months, federal, provincial, and territorial Energy and Environment officials and ministers have continued to hold discussions in preparation for the Kyoto Conference, both at the November 12 Joint Ministerial Meeting of energy and environment ministers and in subsequent discussions. Provincial government representatives have taken part in recent international preparatory meetings in Bonn, Germany, and will participate on the Canadian delegation, as will industry and environmental non-governmental organizations.