A majority of Canadians are disgusted today by the fact that
our government has pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol. Canada was one of the first countries to sign
on to the Kyoto Protocol, and now as the distinction of being the first to
formally back away from its commitments.
There is much outrage and finger pointing between our political
parties about whose fault it is that we have come to this point. Frankly, I think all political parties bare
some of the blame, but most importantly so does every Canadian, regardless for
whom you voted.
While it was briefly mentioned on CBC’s The National tonight,
there has been very little coverage about what this could mean for Canada
economically, especially regarding international trade. There is a very real chance that tariffs could
be applied Canadian products in the near future because we are no longer part
of a climate pact or emissions trading scheme.
I remember first thinking that Canada might be threatened
with tariffs because of our lack of climate policy when President Obama was
elected. It seemed that the US was going
to adopt hard emissions targets and, through the workings of NAFTA, Canada
would therefore be forced to follow suit.
More recently, we can see who is a far more likely candidate
to impose the first carbon tariff on Canadian products: The European
Union. In fact, the EU is already
considering applying a tariff on Canadian produced fuels because of its higher
carbon content. ( Canada Fights Fuel Standards - Gazette ).
The Canadian and Albertan governments are desperately fighting this dangerous
precedent, but I would imagine that Europe of all places right now is not
likely to do Canada any favours.
While Canada has done very little over the 15 years since it
first signed on to Kyoto, countries and businesses in the EU have been working hard
to reduce their emissions continuously.
With budget cuts and austerity measures becoming the standard in
European financial policy, it is only a matter of time before Europeans demand
that countries not sharing the burden to reduce global emissions be penalized
before entering their economy.
This means that even though Canada is avoiding $Billions in fines
for non-compliance in Kyoto by withdrawing, we could be facing a much steeper
economic hurdle from international tariffs.
The now 190 Kyoto Countries will not stand by and give unfettered access
to their economies to countries and companies that are not accounting for their
carbon emissions.
There are far more important reasons for Canada not to pull
out of Kyoto, however it may be the repercussions for international trade that will
first show how irresponsibly Canada is acting regarding climate change.
