1. The Protocol is not a plan to reduce smog, acid rain or air pollution

The Kyoto Protocol is directed solely at reducing greenhouse gases - the most significant of which is essentially carbon dioxide, or CO2. However, CO2 is not a component of smog nor is it a pollutant. The Kyoto Protocol does not address air quality issues like smog or acid rain.

2. The Protocol does not include the world's largest contributors of greenhouse gases

Canada produces about 2 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. The developing world, including countries such as China, India and Mexico, today contributes about one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions and with current growth projections will account for close to half of global greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the Kyoto period. These countries are exempted from the current phase of Kyoto. The United States, which produces 25 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, has rejected the protocol. Of the world's developed nations, only Japan and the European Union nations have ratified Kyoto.

3. The Protocol is not a long-term solution

The current Kyoto Protocol sets emission-reduction targets for the years 2008-2012, but what happens beyond that date is ambiguous. Negotiations are set to begin in 2005 to consider what should happen in the years following 2012. Given the serious shortcomings of the current model, the resistance by some nations to adopting the Protocol, and the reluctance of most developing countries to consider any obligation to reduce emissions, the outlook for future global emissions schemes is uncertain, at best.

4. The Protocol is not our only option

There is nothing preventing Canada from developing its own strategy for climate change that best suits the environmental goals of the country, and sustains our economy and standard of living. The federal government should work with the provinces, industry and other stakeholders to develop a Canadian strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions - a strategy that is Made in Canada and best for Canada.