February 16, 2005
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Paul Martin marked today’s entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change by announcing that Canada will host the Eleventh Conference of the Parties (CoP 11) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Montreal in early December 2005.

The Montreal Conference on Climate (CoP 11) will be a significant event, in that it will also be the first Meeting of the Parties (MoP1) to the Kyoto Protocol. The meeting will mark the beginning of discussion among countries to determine the longer term global approach on climate change after 2012.

“Taking on a leadership role by hosting this meeting is profoundly in Canada's national interest,” said Prime Minister Martin. “Canadians want us to prepare for the future. That means an environmental commitment to clean air, clean water and good health. It also means an economy that takes full advantage of sustainable principles and sustainable technologies.”

Environment Minister Stéphane Dion, who will hold the gavel as Chair of the global gathering, says the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol is an opportunity for Canada. “Humanity must emerge from the 21st century having learned to control its impact on the climate. The Montreal Conference on Climate will be a turning point: it will allow the process of identifying the post-2012 international regime to get off on the right foot.”

Canada, as chair of the meeting is also uniquely positioned to lead efforts to produce an effective and inclusive agreement – one including the United States and that sets targets for emerging, developing nations such as China and India.

Industry Minister David Emerson says the opportunity today to transform our way of doing business in a sustainable manner is one Canadians and the Government of Canada is ready to embrace. "Canada has the opportunity to show how environmental responsibility can lead to competitive advantage," said Industry Minister David L. Emerson. "By continuing to develop and deploy innovative green technologies, and by becoming more efficient in our practices, we can enjoy a dual economic and environmental benefit."

Montreal is no stranger to hosting international environmental conferences that produce beneficial results. It was in Montreal in 1987 that global environment ministers agreed to limit ozone depleting substances through the Montreal Protocol. The City is also home to the United Nations Biodiversity Secretariat.

The Montreal Conference on Climate is expected to be attended by more than 10,000 delegates, media and observers.

BACKGROUNDER

The Eleventh Session of the Conference of Parties (COP 11): What is it?

The Secretariat for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Government of Canada have confirmed that Canada will host the Eleventh Conference of the Parties (CoP 11) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the first Meeting of the Parties (MoP 1) to the Kyoto Protocol which will be held in early December 2005.

The CoP11/MoP 1 meeting will be held at the Palais de Congrès in Montréal, Québec. The meetings are expected to attract more than 10,000 participants from the Convention’s 189 Parties as well as from non-governmental organizations, intergovernmental organizations and the world’s media.

For Canada, the meetings have a number of important implications. Canada’s international reputation is such that it is viewed as a respected and neutral broker that has helped ensure successful negotiations on a number of complex environmental agreements, such as the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Hosting CoP11/MoP 1 will help ensure that Canada continues to have a role of pride and influence in the world.

The meetings will be important both for the international climate change community and for Canada. Consideration of the successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol, which sets binding targets for parties through to 2012, is scheduled to begin at CoP 11/MoP 1. This meeting will be instrumental in framing future global action on climate change. It is important that the long term approach to tackling climate change provides Canada and other countries with a framework of achievable, longer-term goals consistent with the scientific consensus on the need for significant emission reductions.

Canada is well positioned to help build the optimal next generation international agreement. We are a member of the G-8, we have close ties with the United States and we are respected in the developing world.

Hosting CoP 11/MoP 1 will help assure Canada a prominent role in international climate change negotiations. This may help Canada to express its view that the new framework agreement, in addition to achieving stronger reductions in emissions, must also promote prosperous 21st century economies that are innovative and sustainable for both developed and developing countries.

To be successful, Canada believes the post-Kyoto agreement must be inclusive and set the framework for the long term. The agreement must meet key objectives: it should have broader participation with fair goals, including all industrialized and key emerging economies; it should generate outcomes that will result in real progress over the longer term; it should provide incentives to invest in developing and sharing transformative environmental technologies to reduce emissions at home and abroad; it should maximize the deployment of existing clean technologies; it should support a streamlined and efficient global carbon market; and it should address adaptation as well as mitigation.

Achieving our climate change goals provides an opportunity to transform our economy, making our industrial sectors the cleanest in the world, making our consumers the most energy efficient and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Canadian economy.

This event will mark a continuation of Montréal as a centre of international environmental action. Montréal is the home to the United Nations Biodiversity Secretariat. As well, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was adopted on September 16 1987 at the Headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization in Montréal.



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