In fact, greenhouse gas emissions are steadily climbing in the United States' northern neighbor.

It is an uncomfortably paradoxical situation for Canada, long a model of cooperation on international issues and one of the Kyoto treaty's first signatories, in April 1998.

But since the United States rejected Kyoto in 2001, the Canadian government has been overwhelmed by opposition to the treaty from industries and some of its own provinces, such as Alberta, which sits on the second largest oil reserve on the planet, and Ontario, one of the largest auto producers in North America.

They argue that Canadian industry will lose out to US competitors that will not be forced by Kyoto to make costly investments in pollution-reduction measures, and also trail industries in emerging economies like China and India, which are likewise not bound by the accord.

The protocol, ratified by Canada in 2002, obliges the country to cut greenhouse gas emissions six percent by 2008-2012 from the 1990 level.

Since 2000, Canada has proposed two provisional plans and budgeted 3.7 billion Canadian dollars (three billion US) for an initiative which would supposedly allow them to achieve this objective.

However, far from cutting back, Canada's greenhouse gas emissions have continued to grow, and have increased by 20 percent compared to 1990. The main causes have been Alberta's big oil boom and the growth in the number of automobiles.

"We would be there if the Liberal Party of Canada had not dragged its feet on this case since arriving in power," said Steven Guilbeault of Greenpeace Canada.

Environmentalists deplore especially that, since 2002, Ottawa has not passed any law or rule to force automobile manufacturers to increase the fuel efficiency of their vehicles by 25 percent by 2010, even though this objective was in the government's stated plans.

After years of talks with the industry, Ottawa has come to the point of accepting that the automobile manufacturers will decide themselves how they will reach this target.

"We face a lack of political will, a lack of vision, of courage," said Guilbeault.

"We want to respect Kyoto without hurting our competitiveness," said Environment Minister Stephane Dion.

But Dion acknowledged that, to satisfy the treaty, Canada will be forced to bid for green "credits" from other countries to compensate for the pollution from its industries.

Ottawa refuses to apply at home the "polluter pays" principal, as demanded by an opposition party, and will mainly rely on technological investments and fiscal incentives to achieve the necessary cuts in pollution.

The principal measures Canada is taking will be contained in the fiscal 2005-2006 budget, which will be presented by Finance Minister Ralph Goodale on February 23.

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