LIA MAZZOLINI: Canada may have dropped out of the Kyoto Protocol, but the country sets its sights for 2015 for a new binding of an international climate change regime. Environment Minister, Peter Kent says Canada is pushing for a new climate deal to come into effect within four years.

Kent says that these are precautions to avoid dangerous tampering with the atmosphere. He declares he wants to move quickly toward a legally binding treaty to replace Kyoto and prevent the average world temperature from rising by 2°C or more. He adds that countries shouldn’t rush into a second chapter of Kyoto if they’re concerned in controlling global greenhouse gases.

The U.S., Japan and Russia also agree that a new binding climate plan should include countries like Brazil, South Africa, India and China, who’s emission output is growing.

About 150 developing and small states are still pushing for a second phase of the Kyoto Protocol. [ index ]

CARA CHELLEW: Stats Canada has released a new report confirming the decline of arctic sea ice coverage during the summer months.

Over the past four decades, the average arctic sea ice coverage has declined in all nine of Canada’s northern sea ice regions.

The largest declines are being seen in the south and east with a 17% decrease per decade in the Northern Labrador Sea, 16% in the Hudson Strait, 14% in the Davis Strait, and 11% in the Hudson’s Bay.

There has also been a decline in summer sea ice in the Northwest Passage, which links the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and the Arctic Bridge route, which connects North America to European and Asian markets. [ index ]

LIA MAZZOLINI: Quebec announces a new legislation that will require mandatory emissions testing for older vehicles.

The Charest government presented Bill 48 at the national assembly to have the province participate in reducing harmful emissions, on Wednesday December 7.

Environment minister, Pierre Arcand says that boosting the air quality in the city is a driving factor. The law will require vehicles that are more than eight years old to go for regular testing. In the first phase of the program, 450,000 vehicles will be inspected.

A study suggests that 22 percent of vehicles between 11 and 25 years old release large amounts of harmful emissions. Currently, Canada only has British Columbia and Ontario participating in emissions testing.

According to the Canadian Medical Association, greenhouse gases aid in causing 2,000 premature deaths each year. [ index ]

CARA CHELLEW: A final review of Enbridge’s proposed 1200 kilometer Northern Gateway pipeline, that would ship tar sands oil from Alberta to BC, will take longer than expected.

A three member joint review panel anticipates an environmental review will be released in the fall of 2013 while a final decision will be made at the end of that year.

The controversial 5.5 billion dollar project would transport over half a million barrels of oil a day to ocean going tankers on the west coast.

Opponents of the project, including a coalition of aboriginal groups worry about the disastrous effects a tanker spill or pipeline leak would have fisheries and ecotourism in the area.

Natural resource minister Joe Oliver commented Tuesday that the project is a ‘nation-building’ attempt to link Canada’s vast oil sands resources to Asian markets.

He also said the project won’t be stopped by protesters using civil disobedience.

Environmental and aboriginal groups say they will create a human wall to prevent building of the pipeline. [ index ]

LIA MAZZOLINI: Protesters populated the Alberta Legislature demanding the federal government alter its stance on climate change.

The assembly and other demonstrations on climate change held around the world were in accordance to the Global Day of Action campaign.

The protests were parallel with world leaders are meeting in Durban, South Africa, for the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Greenpeace Canada Mike Hudema, a climate and energy campaigner, helped to organize the Edmonton rally.

He says protesters are pushing for the Alberta and federal governments to make plans to radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Greenpeace activist adds that it’s important that Canada becomes a leader in battling climate change because it is a serious problem that’s impacting many people around the world.

South Africa had criticized Canada for “bullying” smaller nations about their contribution of greenhouse gases, at the Durban conference. [ index ]

CARA CHELLEW: New Brunswick’s NDP leader Dominic Cardy has denounced gas exploration company Windsor Energy for trying to silence him.

Cardy alleges the company broke the provinces oil and gas law in Sussex when they conducted seismic testing within the town limits on October 17 without written permission.

On Wednesday, the NDP leader reported that he received a phone call from the company’s CEO who told him if he didn’t stop, he would hear from their lawyers.

Although Windsor Energy apologized to the Sussex town council, they did not admit to breaking the law.

New Brunswick’s Natural Resources Minister confirmed that the company broke the rules and should be penalized but announced Wednesday that they will not face any charges. [ index ]

CHRIS GUSEN read by Vanessa Purdy: With two days left before the UN climate talks in Durban come to an end, opinions among delegates about the prospect of an international agreement on emissions reduction range from very optimistic to totally hopeless. Yesterday ministers from rich and poor countries representing half of the world’s governments held a press conference to urge big emitters like the US and China to move a deal forward. Most of the countries at the table want to see immediate action on climate change through a meaningful continuation of the Kyoto Protocol and a new legally binding treaty to curb emissions. However, the US, China, India, and Brazil – some of the world’s heaviest emitters – have been accused of stalling the process. They want any negotiations to start in 2015 at the earliest, and not come into effect until after 2020. Negotiators officially have until the end of today to reach a deal, but the talks are generally expected to last through the night on Saturday. [ index ]

CHRIS GUSEN read by Vanessa Purdy: On Tuesday the Brazilian Senate passed a set of forest regulations that observers say will actually diminish the country’s ability to reverse deforestation and meet its emissions reduction targets. The changes to the 46 year old Forest Code will reduce the size of untouched buffer zones around rivers and shrink the amount of land that owners must leave forested. In addition, deforesters who breached the code in the past will not be punished if they agree to create a plan for ecological restoration. Brazil’s former environment minister, along with national environmental groups, are calling on the president to veto the changes. The deregulation was first proposed by a powerful group of Ruralist politicians, who argued that the move will increase Brazil’s food production and make things simpler for farmers. The leader of the Brazilian branch of Conservation International commented that pitting agriculture against forest protection is a false dichotomy. He says Brazil can maintain its high level of food production while still protecting it massive forest carbon stocks and setting a good example for other forest nations. [ index ]

CHRIS GUSEN read by Vanessa Purdy: In a study released earlier this week, Australian scientists are calling for a new approach to urban ecology. The paper argues that the prevailing method of modeling how cities impact the environment is based on an outdated understanding of urban growth. Historically, cities grew slowly and in a relatively compact way. Urbanization would occur in progressive rings from a central core. According to the study, environmental scientists need to update their methods because contemporary patterns of urbanization do not fit the old pattern. Cities are growing very rapidly and expanding across large distances in spider-like configurations. This is affecting the environment in severe and unpredictable ways that cannot be understood through the traditional model of urban ecology. As a way forward, the report suggests that ecologists should focus more closely on the specific area they are studying and its neighboring landscape, without relying on aggregated urbanization statistics or broad categories like urban, rural, and suburban. [ index ]