The Kyoto Protocol

Because scientists expect that northern nations will be more affected by climate change than those closer to the equator, Canada is particularly vulnerable. The effects are already been felt: increasing heat waves and related health problems, declining water levels in the Great Lakes, changes in fish migration and melting polar ice caps, as well as insect infestations in British Columbia's forests.

There is strong agreement among Canadians on the need to address climate change. There has been discussion, however, of how best to achieve our climate change objectives and whether we should address the challenge of climate change independently or within an international framework.

Greenhouse gases have the same impact on the atmosphere regardless of where they are emitted. That is why Canada believes a global approach is required to effectively address the climate change challenge.

In 1992, that approach was launched with more than 155 countries, including Canada, signing the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Since then, a number of United Nations conferences have been held, including one in Kyoto, Japan in 1997. The outcome of that conference was a Protocol to the UNFCCC. The Kyoto Protocol established legally binding targets for those industrialized countries that ratify the agreement and the timeframes within which those targets are to be met. Additional operational details were agreed to at subsequent meetings in Bonn, Germany and Marrakech, Morocco.

Under the Protocol, Canada has agreed to lower its greenhouse gas emissions to six percent below 1990 levels during the first commitment period (2008 - 2012). The Kyoto Protocol does not tell us how to meet this target: that is entirely up to Canadians.

In Canada, transportation is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 25 percent of the total. Efforts to address climate change in this sector have begun and are ongoing. The Climate Change Action Plan includes a substantial transportation component consisting of five new transportation measures. These new measures focus on: urban transportation with emphasis on shifting travel away from GHG intensive modes, promoting new vehicle efficiency, lessening the use of GHG-intensive fuels, and increasing the efficiency of Canada's freight system.