BILL CURRY
OTTAWA -- The Prime Minister of France is urging the European Union to impose a punitive import tax on goods from countries such as Canada that refuse to sign on to a tougher second phase of the global warming deal. Dominique de Villepin said countries that do not commit to new targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions should not be allowed to benefit by avoiding the costs associated with reducing global warming. He said France would make specific proposals for the European Union to discuss in the new year.
Environment Minister Rona Ambrose was not aware of the details of the French proposal, a spokesman said, but opposition MPs said it shows Canada is increasingly viewed as an environmental laggard on the world stage. An international law expert said such a tax would probably be rejected by the World Trade Organization because rules prevent foreign products from being treated differently from domestic ones.
But a spokesman for the French embassy in Ottawa said he was confident European Union lawyers could overcome that. The controversy comes as Canada faces criticism from Europe in particular for its acknowledgment that it will not meet its 2012 targets under the Kyoto Protocol for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. It also comes on the heels of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to cancel a Canada-EU summit scheduled for Nov. 27 in Finland, where the Europeans planned to discuss climate change.
Liberal MP John Godfrey said the French proposal is generating discussion behind the scenes in Nairobi, Kenya, where world leaders are discussing a second phase to the Kyoto Protocol that would begin in 2012.
"I don't know, frankly, how seriously to take it," Mr. Godfrey said from Nairobi, noting that France is in an election year. He said it does show French politicians feel climate change is so important to voters that they would accept new import taxes.
NDP Leader Jack Layton seized on the French plan, describing it as a "wake-up call" to Mr. Harper.
"There are clearly some countries that are beginning to understand that the impacts of catastrophic climate change are so serious that truly extraordinary measures are going to have to be taken," he said.
Speaking Monday, the French Prime Minister expressed concern about the negotiations taking place in Nairobi. His tax proposal was presented as a way of getting hesitant countries on side. "Europe has to use all its weight to stand up to this sort of environmental dumping," Mr. de Villepin said, according to a text of his speech provided by the French embassy. "I would like us to study now with our European partners the principle of a carbon tax on the import of industrial products from countries that refuse to commit themselves to the Kyoto Protocol after 2012."
France has recently used new taxes for international issues. In July, the country imposed a departure tax at its airports to fund foreign aid and persuaded several European Union countries to follow suit.
Canada is one of 35 countries that ratified the Kyoto Protocol and made specific commitments to reduce greenhouse gases between 2008 and 2012. The thinking at the time was that those developed countries would set the example. The second phase was expected to involve deeper cuts for them, while other countries such as China would take on targets for the first time.
However, at a Kyoto-related meeting in Bonn in May, Canada adopted a new negotiating position by opposing tougher targets in the second phase. Canadian environmentalists and opposition leaders have been criticizing the Conservative government and Ms. Ambrose for continuing to chair Kyoto negotiations over the past year when it has acknowledged Canada will not meet its targets in the first phase. Ms. Ambrose's spokesman, Bob Klager, said yesterday the minister believes "there has been progress to date on the process for moving forward post-2012 and she's looking forward to furthering discussions this week." University of Ottawa law professor Errol Mendes, an international law expert who until June was a senior policy adviser in the Privy Council Office, said Mr. de Villepin's proposal would be rejected by the World Trade Organization.
"I think it's a non-starter," he said. "If you can't stop importations made even with child labour, because the WTO rules prohibits importation rules based on the means of production, I don't think this is going to go anywhere." But he said Canada could be challenged in the International Court of Justice for having signed an international treaty and then opting not to meet its commitments. The professor speculated that a country such as the Maldives, the Indian Ocean island nation that could be flooded if sea levels rise due to global warming, could take Canada to court. Canada's exports to France totalled $2.5-billion in 2005, compared with $5-billion in French sales to Canada. Canada's main exports include uranium, scallops, frozen lobster, mustard seed, dried lentils and newsprint. The aeronautics industry is a major source of trade, particularly with Quebec, and is the largest area of imports to Canada.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061115.NAIROBI15/TPStory/Front
OTTAWA -- The Prime Minister of France is urging the European Union to impose a punitive import tax on goods from countries such as Canada that refuse to sign on to a tougher second phase of the global warming deal. Dominique de Villepin said countries that do not commit to new targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions should not be allowed to benefit by avoiding the costs associated with reducing global warming. He said France would make specific proposals for the European Union to discuss in the new year.
Environment Minister Rona Ambrose was not aware of the details of the French proposal, a spokesman said, but opposition MPs said it shows Canada is increasingly viewed as an environmental laggard on the world stage. An international law expert said such a tax would probably be rejected by the World Trade Organization because rules prevent foreign products from being treated differently from domestic ones.
But a spokesman for the French embassy in Ottawa said he was confident European Union lawyers could overcome that. The controversy comes as Canada faces criticism from Europe in particular for its acknowledgment that it will not meet its 2012 targets under the Kyoto Protocol for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. It also comes on the heels of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to cancel a Canada-EU summit scheduled for Nov. 27 in Finland, where the Europeans planned to discuss climate change.
Liberal MP John Godfrey said the French proposal is generating discussion behind the scenes in Nairobi, Kenya, where world leaders are discussing a second phase to the Kyoto Protocol that would begin in 2012.
"I don't know, frankly, how seriously to take it," Mr. Godfrey said from Nairobi, noting that France is in an election year. He said it does show French politicians feel climate change is so important to voters that they would accept new import taxes.
NDP Leader Jack Layton seized on the French plan, describing it as a "wake-up call" to Mr. Harper.
"There are clearly some countries that are beginning to understand that the impacts of catastrophic climate change are so serious that truly extraordinary measures are going to have to be taken," he said.
Speaking Monday, the French Prime Minister expressed concern about the negotiations taking place in Nairobi. His tax proposal was presented as a way of getting hesitant countries on side. "Europe has to use all its weight to stand up to this sort of environmental dumping," Mr. de Villepin said, according to a text of his speech provided by the French embassy. "I would like us to study now with our European partners the principle of a carbon tax on the import of industrial products from countries that refuse to commit themselves to the Kyoto Protocol after 2012."
France has recently used new taxes for international issues. In July, the country imposed a departure tax at its airports to fund foreign aid and persuaded several European Union countries to follow suit.
Canada is one of 35 countries that ratified the Kyoto Protocol and made specific commitments to reduce greenhouse gases between 2008 and 2012. The thinking at the time was that those developed countries would set the example. The second phase was expected to involve deeper cuts for them, while other countries such as China would take on targets for the first time.
However, at a Kyoto-related meeting in Bonn in May, Canada adopted a new negotiating position by opposing tougher targets in the second phase. Canadian environmentalists and opposition leaders have been criticizing the Conservative government and Ms. Ambrose for continuing to chair Kyoto negotiations over the past year when it has acknowledged Canada will not meet its targets in the first phase. Ms. Ambrose's spokesman, Bob Klager, said yesterday the minister believes "there has been progress to date on the process for moving forward post-2012 and she's looking forward to furthering discussions this week." University of Ottawa law professor Errol Mendes, an international law expert who until June was a senior policy adviser in the Privy Council Office, said Mr. de Villepin's proposal would be rejected by the World Trade Organization.
"I think it's a non-starter," he said. "If you can't stop importations made even with child labour, because the WTO rules prohibits importation rules based on the means of production, I don't think this is going to go anywhere." But he said Canada could be challenged in the International Court of Justice for having signed an international treaty and then opting not to meet its commitments. The professor speculated that a country such as the Maldives, the Indian Ocean island nation that could be flooded if sea levels rise due to global warming, could take Canada to court. Canada's exports to France totalled $2.5-billion in 2005, compared with $5-billion in French sales to Canada. Canada's main exports include uranium, scallops, frozen lobster, mustard seed, dried lentils and newsprint. The aeronautics industry is a major source of trade, particularly with Quebec, and is the largest area of imports to Canada.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061115.NAIROBI15/TPStory/Front
