United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres said she regrets Canada's decision to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol and is "surprised" at the timing of the move.
Canada's Environment Minister Peter Kent said yesterday the country would pull out of the only treaty that sets binding greenhouse-gas reduction targets for developed countries. Kent made the statement after envoys from more than 190 nations agreed in Durban, South Africa to develop a document with "legal force" by 2015 that would curb pollution by all nations.
"Whether or not Canada is a party to the Kyoto Protocol, it has a legal obligation to reduce its emissions, and a moral obligation to itself and future generations to lead in the global effort," Figueres said in a statement on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change's website.
