OTTAWA, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Greenpeace slammed Canada for pulling out of the Kyoto Protocol, describing the move as a death sentence on the world imposed by an oil-rich country.
Mike Hudema, a representative of Greenpeace Canada, in a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said the conservative government was irresponsible for pulling out of Kyoto just days after the international climate conference in Durban, South Africa.
"The Harper government has imposed a death sentence on many of the world's most vulnerable populations by pulling out of Kyoto," wrote Hudema.
Major economies, including Canada, signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. It calls for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels and advocates financial support for developing countries.
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Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent said Monday that his country was backing out of Kyoto.
"It's now clear Kyoto is not the path forward for a global solution to climate change," he said. "If anything, it's an impediment."
Harper's government, The Vancouver Sun reports, has opposed parts of Kyoto, stating other major emitters aren't doing their part to make the agreement viable. Kent, the report adds, blamed the former government for being irresponsible for signing onto Kyoto. It said Harper's government would be forced to take drastic action if Canada stayed with the international treaty.
"To meet the target under 2012 would be the equivalent of either removing every car, truck, ATV, tractor, ambulance, police car and vehicle of every kind from Canadian roads or closing down the entire farming and agricultural sector and cutting heat to every home, office, hospital, factory and building in Canada," Kent said.
