Canada’s Environment Commissioner consults lawyer over government’s Kyoto decision

Canada’s Environment Commissioner is consulting lawyers over the government’s decision to pull out from the Kyoto Accord.

Even though Canada is withdrawing, the commissioner may still have to report on the progress of the protocol.

That is because the previous Liberal government set the reports in a law passed by parliament.

The next report is due in the Spring of 2012.

Meanwhile, the United Nations and China have asked the Canadian government to reconsider their decision to pull out of the climate treaty.

UN climate chief Christiana Figueres said the timing of the announcement caught her off guard.

“Whether or not Canada is a party to the Kyoto Protocol, it has a legal obligation under the convention to reduce its emissions, and a moral obligation to itself and future generations to lead in the global effort,” said Figueres.

China’s official news agency, Xinhua, published a scathing article Tuesday over Canada’s decision to call it quits.

“Canada … became the first country to pull out of the historic Kyoto Protocol, inescapably scarring the global anti-climate change efforts,” Xinhua wrote.

“The biggest concern at this moment is whether other developed countries would follow suit.”

Canada signed Kyoto in the late 1990s, but neither the current Conservative government nor their Liberal predecessors met targets.

The Tories have always insisted that meeting Canada’s Kyoto commitments would tank the economy. They have instead set a less-stringent goal to lower greenhouse gases that is in line with the United States.