Taking a Look at the Kyoto Protocol

Currently, the Canadian government is taking several initiatives to control climate change. In 2017, Canada signed the Paris Accord and agreed to cut 30% of carbon emissions by 2030.

The government responsible to take charge for this issue are global, federal and provincial. As a planet, we must coalesce with each other to find solutions to preserving the planet. World leaders are meeting with each other, discussing ways to fix the damages humans created. The government of Canada is dedicated on working with leaders all over the world to make changes that will help resolve the effects of climate change. Also, Canada is committed to supporting and helping out third world countries who need help in accommodating to the effects of climate change. Investments are being made to reduce emissions as well. The government of Canada and its provinces and territories are uniting together to encounter the effects of climate change. They aim on federal funding, the flexibility to design their own carbon pricing policies on putting a price on carbon and reducing carbon pollution.

That is a large factor in the process of ratification in many other countries. In Canada the loss of jobs will be enormous and the cost of energy will be higher. ( Taylor) On November 27, 2002, a speech to the Alberta Legislature stated that there is no certainty that greenhouse gases are the cause for global warming, but there is certainty that implementing the Kyoto Protocol will cost the Canadian economy. Also stated in the same speech a man, whom it did not state his name but he was an expertise in this area, was saying that the government should look at all the possibilities before the ratification. ( Lord )

Canadians do not need to rethink how they are currently treating our environment, as they have previously done that. Citizens have already made significant changes in how they live their lives, and Canada has seen an overall improvement in our environment situation. After the government began to certify certain merchandise as environmentally-friendly, Canadians have become more aware of the fact that Canada needs to be a more green country. They started buying these products, contributing to bettering Canada’s environment. Yet it may seem unrealistic that by buying more eco-friendly items, one is positively contributing to the environment, it is very true. The only people who are in charge of the environmental standards are the consumers. And

For example, Harper has consistently failed to meet Kyoto Protocol agreements which it signed with the United States and China and promised to fulfill. In addition, in the 2014 budget, the allocation for climate science reduced by a significant percentage. The problem, according to government sources and climate change researchers, is oil. Canada has huge oil reserves, which it intends to exploit to the maximum without caring what any climate change policy, deal or supporter says.

It's about advancing a political scheme of global government and punishing the US for its economic success. If we sign the Protocol the Kyoto inspectors, will be crawling all over America inspecting our emission levels in our factories and homes in violation of our Constitution. So the US should stay out of entangling alliances and should not endorse such Protocols that deteriorate our justifiable right of sovereignty. Global Warming is Hot Air Jon PerdueNo. 111, 15-21 March 1999 =

The Kyoto Protocol does not benefit Canada because it is unfair and too costly. The countries involved are not treated fairly, especially Canada. Some of the world’s largest polluters, such as China and India, are exempt from the first half of the Protocol and large polluters such as the US didn't choose to ratify the agreement. Secondly, Kyoto allows some industrialized countries, such as Russia and New Zealand, to make no cuts, and even permits some places, like Iceland, to emit more greenhouse gasses (Torrie and Parfett et al.). Finally, Canada will need to provide developing countries with funding to help them reach their reduction goals ("Canada's Kyoto Protocol Targets and Obligations"). Canada has more to lose with the Protocol than other countries and many other countries are not giving any funding at all. Every country that is signed on to the Kyoto agreement should be treated equally, and there should be no exceptions. For these reasons, the Kyoto Protocol will have little effect on the earth’s

This will in turn, result in a greater greenhouse gas effect and contribute significantly more to climate change. Canada will not be able to meet green emission standards and will rather be contributing more to global climate change than trying to reduce it.

Canada’s commitment to the Kyoto Protocol was a relatively short-lived deal met with plenty of controversy that saw opposition and support. The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty that extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits countries to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions based on the assumption that global warming exists and man-made CO2 emissions are the contributing factor (Kyoto Protocol 1997). When the Liberal party lost the 2006 elections to the Conservative party, Canada had already gone back on its promise of a country-wide movement, undoing any progress towards its Kyoto goals (Canada and

Climate change has become the most serious global environmental threat with sides of people who do not believe it exists and people who are actually aware. The release of greenhouse gases such as carbon and methane into the atmosphere has been known to be one of the major causes of climate change. Scientists explain that these emissions must drastically reduce to avoid a 2°C rise in average global temperature. Therefore different countries have made policies and ways to reduce the production of these gases and Canada is one of them. Canada ranks 15th out of 17 countries for greenhouse gas emissions per capita.Canada’s per capita decreased by nearly 5% between 1990 and 2010 while the total GHG emissions in Canada grew by 17%. The

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) aspires to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.” The Paris Agreement, created under the UNFCCC, helps make that goal a reality. Signed by Canada on Earth Day 2016, the agreement “requires all Parties to put forward their best efforts through ‘nationally determined contributions’ (NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead. This includes requirements that all Parties report regularly on their emissions and on their implementation efforts. There will also be a global stocktake every 5 years to assess the collective progress towards achieving the purpose of the agreement and to inform further individual actions by Parties.” As of 5 November 2016, ninety-seven parties out of one hundred ninety-seven have signed the agreement that went into effect on 4 November 2016. Canada’s involvement in the UNFCCC and the Paris agreement is just the tip of the iceberg, and it is quite a contribution to global efforts to reduce climate change.

In recent years, Canada’s lack of climate action at the federal level has damaged our international reputation. With the UN climate talks in Paris, Canada has an opportunity to step up and take meaningful climate action and be viewed as a climate leader on the

Canada is also known for dropping out of the Kyoto Protocol, which included 139 parties. Canada then switched to the Copenhagen Agreement. This agreement wants Canada to cut 17% of its emissions {Meyer,2009}. 4% of emissions have been saved since signing back in 2009. This plan will not work because Canada only reduced 4% of its GHG’s in four years, there is no detailed plan to fix the average 1% decrease by 2020 or the future {Wingrove, J 2015}. Another strategy created by the government is the carbon pricing mechanism. Alberta teamed up with the Climate Control and Emissions Management Act (CCEMA) and placed a tax for carbon emissions on all Canadian Oil companies {CSA Group, 2015}. The tax is $15 per tonne and the CCEMA expects and wants a 12% decrease of oil sands GHG’s each year {CSA Group, 2015}. Canada is an oil producing company and a change like this would need time but we can switch over to less GHG emitting mechanisms {Mansbridge, P 2015}. The CCEMA plan will not be very effective because Canada has done so little to follow its rules and be effective in the past, and now we are even deeper I trouble. If the oil sands didn’t pay much attention to rules of GHG’s before, who says they are going to change now?

Reported as Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) in 2012, the Government of Canada has taken actions on climate change in both domestic and international. At the Copenhagen Accord in December 2009, Canada pledged to align with the U.S. target, this being 17% below 2005 levels by 2020 (3). To achieve this target, while on the one hand Canada proposed to control emissions. For examples, Canada has plans for addressing short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) to help meet climate goals and improve air quality (4). Short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), the government of Canada introduced it as “a group of greenhouse gases and air pollutants that have a near-term warming impact on climate and can affect air quality” (5). Canada solves SLCPs through enhancing science and communications to broaden understanding and engaging internationally, and building partnerships to reduce SLCPs on a global scale. On the other hand, Canada also focused on improving energy efficiency. For instance, the government builds smart, integrated clean electricity systems such as hydro, wind, and solar to afford power. Those are ways that how Canada address the climate

“The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty which extends the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits State Parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the premise that (a)