"We want to know: why is Canada holding the knife that will kill Kyoto?" asked Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians. "We have a right to know."

Under the Kyoto Protocol developed countries are each required to make legally-binding emission reductions and collectively reach a target based on what science requires. Demands by developing countries for 40 to 50 percent cuts by 2020 (compared to 1990 levels) are realistic considering recent science that affirms climate change is accelerating faster than predicted.

"Negotiations are threatening to move backwards," says Andrea Harden-Donahue, Energy and Climate Justice Campaigner with the Council of Canadians. "We must be vigilant in demanding meaningful progress and action on the climate crisis, there is too much as stake for any other outcome."

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