Canada’s (Trash-the-)Environment Minister Prentice Denies Charge

The Guardian has turned up a leaked document from a Chinese think tank that condemns Canada for being “devoted to conniving” at the international climate conference in Copenhagen last December.

According to The Guardian, the Chinese text says that Canada spent the conference trying, “to convince the world that its pledge of a 3% emissions reduction between 1990 and 2020 is significant, while having no intention of meeting its Kyoto protocol target of 6%.”

Canada’s “Environment” Minister Jim Prentice took issue with that characterization:

“Canada has always been completely open, completely transparent and we have been constructive,” Prentice told Canwest News Service. “We have not been conniving.”

That said, Canada has indeed abandoned its Kyoto commitments and recent reports suggest that it has no plan to reach the 3% target (20% below 2006) that it has been promising more recently.