Canadian PM and Koizumi skirt Kyoto issue

Japan treats the Kyoto Protocol on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions very seriously. But Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made it clear that he does not think Canada can reach the targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Japanese officials said Koizumi did not want to embarrass Harper during their first meeting, so the issue was not raised at the meeting between the two men recently. When asked about it at a news conference, Koizumi said merely that he intended to discuss the issue with Harper over lunch — after the news conference.

Japan, like Canada, will have difficulty in achieving its targets.

According to a study published in May by the David Suzuki Foundation, Japanese emissions in 2003 were 13 per cent above 1990 levels — and 20 per cent higher than the Kyoto target levels, which call for Japan to reduce its emissions to 6 per cent below the 1990 level.

However, Japan remains committed.

Canadian emissions, on the other hand, were 32 per cent higher than the Kyoto target levels in 2003 and 26 per cent higher than they were in 1990 — and have increased since then to 35 per cent higher than the targets.

Harper said Canada's admission that it cannot achieve its Kyoto targets doesn't put it in a unique position in the world, as many countries are struggling with the problem.

"We continue to work as part of the co-presidency of the international process to develop an effective international approach to climate change, not just in terms of the Kyoto process, but in terms of a range of other processes as well," he said recently.

"We want to involve not just those who signed Kyoto but all countries in this international dialogue."

Harper said he will discuss Canada's desire to participate in the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, which includes Australia, India, Japan, China, Korea and the United States.

Harper said he told Koizumi that commercial relations between Canada and Japan had been relatively free of irritants and that direct investment had grown.

Harper praised Koizumi, who will step down as prime minister in September, for engaging Japan in peace and security issues.

"This is a development we welcome," Harper said.