Kyoto to cut Canadian growth and jobs - report
Date: 27-Sep-02
Country: CANADA
The numbers are based on an internal government analysis of Ottawa's recent Kyoto strategies and are lower than some private-sector estimates which see a greater economic impact.
After much dithering, Canadian Prime Minister has recently pledged to put the Kyoto accord to a vote in the House of Commons before the end of the year.
Under Kyoto, signed in 1997, Canada is committed to cutting emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, blamed for global warming, to 6 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. Burning of fossil fuels is a main source of greenhouse gases.
The move delighted environmentalists who had lamented Canada's foot-dragging on the issue, especially after its top trading partner, the United States, backed out of the accord. But it enraged energy rich Alberta which sees some of its bigger oil projects threatened by the pact.
The newspaper also reported, quoting sources, that pro-Kyoto officials deleted the job loss estimates from the final version of the briefing document presented to cabinet.
The sources also maintained that the economic impact of Kyoto was lowered to less than 1 percent of GDP, which the newspaper said worried some officials that federal decision makers were not receiving all the facts.
