[getsmart-l] FIRST GLOBAL WARMING LAWSUIT LAUNCHED AGAINST CANADA

[Media Release]

Emacs!


Emacs!


Media Release - For Immediate Release
Attention News/Political/Climate Change Reporters and Assignment Editors:

First global warming lawsuit launched against Canada

(Ottawa, Canada, May 29, 2007)  Friends of the Earth Canada has 
launched a landmark lawsuit today against the Government of Canada 
for abandoning its international commitments under the Kyoto 
Protocol.  Filed in Federal Court in Ottawa by Canada's foremost 
environmental law organization, Sierra Legal, the lawsuit alleges 
that the federal government is violating Canadian law by failing to 
meet its binding international commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"Because climate change is the most urgent crisis ever facing the 
planet, Friends of the Earth is resorting to the courts to require 
the federal government to respect its Kyoto promises," says Friends 
of the Earth Canada Chief Executive Officer Beatrice 
Olivastri.  "While the government talks about 'Turning the Corner,' 
in reality it has made a serious wrong turn that will affect the 
lives of generations to come."

The lawsuit is an application for judicial review and alleges that 
the government's failure to effectively regulate greenhouse gases is 
likely to violate the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate 
Change and the Kyoto Protocol.  This violation of international law 
contravenes section 166 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 
which states that Canada must abide by its international agreements 
in preventing pollution.

Canada ratified the Kyoto Protocol in December 2002, legally 
requiring a reduction of overall greenhouse gas emissions to six per 
cent below 1990 levels during the period 2008 to 2012 - a target of 
563 Megatonnes of greenhouse gases.

On April 26, 2007, the federal government announced its 'Turning the 
Corner' climate change strategy which set greenhouse gas reduction 
targets from industry and other sources to 20 per cent below 2006 
levels by 2020.  This would leave Canada approximately 39 per cent 
off target with Kyoto in 2012 and would not achieve the Kyoto target 
until 2025, if at all.

"Canadians expect the Government of Canada to live up to its domestic 
and international commitments to combat global warming, and our 
environmental laws require it to do so," says Sierra Legal lawyer 
Robert Wright.  "Our government shouldn't have to be asked to put on 
a credible and lawful climate change cap."

"The federal government has a legal duty to Canadians and the world 
to make 'demonstrable progress' in reducing greenhouse gases under 
the UN agreements, and to work with all Canadians to adapt to impacts 
of climate change," says Christine Elwell, Friends of the Earth 
Canada Senior Campaigner.  "Instead, we see important programs 
dismantled, terminated and slashed - all part of the pattern of Kyoto 
denial by the federal government."

"The remedy we seek is clear," continues Olivastri, "Canada must 
comply with our environmental laws and live up to our domestic and 
international commitments to combat global warming."

-30-

To download the history of the case, please visit 
www.foecanada.org.  To download the Application, please visit 
www.sierralegal.org.

For more information, please contact:

Beatrice Olivastri, CEO, Friends of the Earth Canada: (613) 241-0085 
ext. 26, cell: (613) 724-8690

Robert Wright, Senior Counsel, Sierra Legal:  (416) 368-7533 ext. 25, 
cell: (416) 573-4258


Friends of the Earth Canada is a voice for the environment, working 
nationally and internationally to inspire the renewal of communities 
and the earth through research, education and advocacy.  It is the 
Canadian member of the 70 country strong Friends of the Earth 
International (www.foecanada.org).

Sierra Legal is Canada's largest non-profit environmental law 
organization, dedicated to enforcing and strengthening the laws that 
safeguard our environment, wildlife and public health (www.sierralegal.org).
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