Environmentalists say Canada undermines Kyoto

OSLO, May 22 (Reuters) Environmentalists today accused Canada of undermining the UN's Kyoto Protocol, saying the president of a meeting on global warming was showing little enthusiasm for new cuts in heat-trapping gases beyond 2012.

''The Canadian government of (Prime Minister) Stephen Harper is trying to sabotage 15 years of international efforts to address climate change,'' activists in the Climate Action International Network said in a statement.

Canada's new Conservative government has said it cannot reach its goals for cuts under Kyoto, which obliges almost 40 industrialised nations to cut emissions of greenhouse gases mainly from factories, power plants and cars.

Environment Minister Rona Ambrose said yesterday Canada would take on new commitments to cut emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels, beyond 2012 only if there were a broad international consensus.

''If it includes all of our international partners, Canada will be at the table,'' she said, adding that any agreement might be part of Kyoto or outside the pact.

''We are ready to work with the international community on this issue,'' Ambrose told CTV television in an interview.

Negotiators from 163 nations are meeting in Bonn for talks from May 15-26 on ways to extend Kyoto beyond 2012 to help prevent what could be wrenching climate changes such as more heat waves, droughts, floods and rising sea levels.

On Saturday, Canadian newspapers reported that Ottawa had instructed Canadian negotiators saying that: ''Canada will not support agreement on language in the work programme that commits developed countries to more stringent targets in the future.'' Ambrose said that the document had only been a draft. Canada is president of the talks after hosting a last round of UN negotiations in Montreal in late 2005.

EMISSIOSN CUTS Kyoto obliges rich nations to cut emissions by at least 5.2 per cent below 1990 levels by 2008-12.

The WWF conservation group said Ambrose should either reaffirm commitment to Kyoto or renounce Canada's current presidency of the UN talks. Many other Kyoto countries are struggling to reach their goals.

''Japan, Portugal and New Zealand all face challenges but are sill committed to their targets under Kyoto,'' said Jennifer Morgan, climate policy director of WWF. ''Canada should reaffirm its commitment to reach Kyoto goals.'' Ambrose has said that Canada's emissions were 35 per cent above target and that Canada needs a break as a major energy exporter.

Emissions are set to rise further as Alberta's oil deposits are exploited amid high oil prices. President George W. Bush pulled the United States out of Kyoto in 2001, saying that it would cost US jobs and wrongly excluded developed nations from a first round of cuts to 2012.

''If Canada were to pull out it would leave Europe, Japan and New Zealand. It would be challenging to continue moving the negotiations forward with just these countries,'' said Steven Guilbeault of Greenpeace.

REUTERS PG PM1713