Japan a new ally in climate change debate?:

OTTAWA - The Harper government could find itself with a new climate change ally next week as the world gathers in Nairobi, Kenya, to review the United Nations treaty on climate change and its Kyoto Protocol.
Although environmentalists have accused the minority Conservatives of turning Canada into an international outlaw for abandoning its Kyoto commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Japan has submitted a proposal to the upcoming conference that could weaken the agreement in its next phase.
Kyoto requires industrialized countries to collectively reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by about five per cent below 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012. But Japan is suggesting intensity targets be considered for the future, without penalties for countries that fall short of their commitments.
"We should not rely on penalties to be imposed on countries that fall short of their commitments," reads the Japanese submission. "Instead, we must construct an enabling framework that assists countries that are willing to achieve their GHG reduction targets."
Emissions can rise under intensity targets since they're linked to economic growth.
"Japan is in a tough situation because they're one of the countries that's having a real challenge meeting the targets they've set for themselves and so is Canada," Environment Minister Rona Ambrose said in an interview Friday.
According to the latest UN figures from 2004, Japan's greenhouse gas emissions were 6.5 per cent above 1990 levels, while Canada's emissions have risen by nearly 27 per cent. However, most European countries are on track to meet their targets and are pushing for tougher commitments beyond 2012. Ottawa is not expecting to set any absolute reduction targets for the next 15 years.
Under Kyoto, industrialized countries are allowed to buy overseas credits on an emissions trading market to help them meet their commitments if they fail to do so through domestic measures. Companies in European countries are already doing so, but the future value of carbon credits is up in the air since there's no deal on mandatory targets beyond 2012. Ottawa has rejected the option of shipping public money overseas.
"We are going to be setting an intensity target and build on that target to make it stronger and stronger and more stringent, so that when the technology is available, we can move directly into hard caps on greenhouse gases," said Ambrose, who is planning on attending the last week of discussions before the conference wraps up on Nov. 17.
"That's an approach that many other governments take, particularly those that are energy intensive countries that deal with the unique challenges that Canada faces, being a large energy exporter."
Ambrose added Canada is already ahead of a lot of countries since it's proposing mandatory regulations on its industry instead of voluntary agreements. However, the government has criticized Kyoto and intends to push for a thorough review of all aspects of the agreement.
"Everyone recognizes that Kyoto was the first good step in the right direction, but we've identified a lot of challenges in the last few years, so this is what Nairobi is about," said Ambrose, who is co-chair of the negotiations.