Why KYOTOplus?

Canadian governments, especially the federal government, are not doing enough to fight global warming. KYOTOplus was created to fight this real threat.

Global warming is a man-made problem, caused by the uncontrolled burning of fossil fuels. Urgent action is needed. Yet Canadian federal governments have failed to act.

Our responsibility

We have a responsibility to our children to remove the threat of global warming. Our children didn't cause the problem. They should not suffer the consequences of our inaction. We will create a public demand for action that Ottawa can no longer ignore.

Global warming: the threat increases

Evidence of global warming mounts daily.

In Canada's Arctic, scientists have documented that in 2008, sea ice shrank by almost half for the second year in a row. Ice has covered the Arctic Sea for at least a million years, but the polar ice cap is now reportedly in a “death spiral.”

The Arctic Sea will soon be ice-free in the summer. Scientists suggest that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change underestimated the speed of climate change in the Arctic and likely elsewhere.

Global warming: the effect on people

This is a crisis that affects us all. Yet, the Harper government has suppressed a 2008 report on the health impacts of climate change. The 500-page “Human Health in a Changing Climate” report states that death and injury will increasingly result from:

• Extreme weather, including violent storms, floods, drought, forest fires and heat waves
• Air pollution, including more ground-level ozone and particulates (smog), wildfires, and pollen production, leading to heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular disease.
• Water contamination increasing the risk of infectious diseases such as encephalitis, spotted fever, Nile Virus, Lyme disease and various types of pathogens including Salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, and Giardia.

The jobs and communities of many Canadians may disappear as our forests are destroyed.

Rising sea levels will eventually flood coastal communities, making environmental refugees of millions. Millions more will face shortages of food and drinking water. World-wide famine may result.

Scientific agreement: stop global warming

Scientists agree to prevent catastrophic climate change we must keep the average increase in global temperature from pre-industrial levels as far as possible below 2 degrees centigrade

That means global greenhouse gas emissions must be stabilized and begin to decline before 2015.

Canada, and all developed countries, must reduce emissions at least 25 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, and 80 per cent by 2050. Those are the targets of KYOTOplus.

Kyoto Protocol

Canada ratified the Kyoto Protocol in December 2002 and agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions six per cent below 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012.

Canada's Kyoto failure

Canada's has not reduced emissions. By the end of 2006, emissions were 22 per cent above the 1990 level, and 29 per cent above our Kyoto target.

Canada is one of the worst countries in the world for reducing emissions. This is why we need KYOTOplus.

For more information : Environment Canada, National Inventory Report 1990-2006: Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks in Canada .