Countries whose economies are largely intact failed their irrelevant Kyoto ‘commitments’ but penalties apply in the next round
Terms of Kyoto accord favour quick exit by Canada – Large penalties loom in second round for earlier failures
… That meant that in Kyoto terms, Canada has been one of the worst performers. Our target was a roughly six-per-cent reduction from 1990 levels over the four final years. Instead of curbing our output, however, we went the other way. Emissions peaked just before the global financial meltdown and resulting recession, at almost 27 per cent above 1990 levels. Emissions fell during the recession and in 2009 were down to just 17 per cent above.
For the measurement period set out in the accord of 2008-12, the government’s estimate is that Canada will have produced some 805 megatonnes more than the limit we agreed to. For comparison, our total output in 2009 was 690 Mt.
Although Kyoto is called a binding agreement, full of prescriptions about what the signatories “shall” and shall not do, it has no penalties for noncompliance. Penalties only kick in once a followup agreement is reached. At that point, countries such as Canada, which are found to be out of compliance for the 2008-12 period, will be assessed a penalty that in our case would either require us to purchase an enormous number of carbon credits or require even deeper cuts by 2020. That assessment probably will not be made until 2015 because of delays in measuring emissions and other factors that have to be considered.
But if we officially withdraw from Kyoto before the end of 2012, we won’t be judged under the agreement and we won’t be liable for any penalties. (The Vancouver Sun)
