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THE CANADIAN PRESS

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POZNAN, Poland - Canada wrapped up negotiations at a United Nations climate conference Friday with a promise to keep climate change at the top of its agenda, even as it was dubbed the most obstructionist country at the summit.

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AP

Jim Prentice

"People are quite concerned about this and they've made it clear that they want to see this as a priority, and so the government is addressing it as such," Environment Minister Jim Prentice said Friday in a conference call with Canadian reporters from Poznan, Poland.

"The economic circumstances are certainly important, but what we're talking about crafting is an international protocol that will reduce carbon emissions and withstand many economic up cycles and down cycles."

The federal government, he said, will do two things: be a "constructive player" in the international negotiations leading up to a conference in Copenhagen next year, and pursue the possibilities of a North American cap-and-trade system with the U.S.

Canada has come under pressure during the conference from Canadian environmental groups, who claim officials have been obstructionist at the talks, focusing on reducing greenhouse gases through intensity-based targets rather than on the Kyoto Protocol's absolute reduction targets.

On Friday, Canada was named the most obstructive country at the UN climate negotiations, winning a total of 10 "Colossal Fossil" awards. The dubious distinction came from Climate Action Network International, a group that includes more than 400 non-governmental organizations.

"Canada played a shameful role here in Poznan, as this 'prize' confirms," said Dave Martin of Greenpeace Canada.

"Canada needs to stop blocking progress and finally start showing some leadership."

Prentice defended his government's performance, saying they had constructive dialogues with other countries.

"Not everyone necessarily agrees with our positions," he said. "However, we have been quite clear that we wish to be a constructive force in concluding an effective international protocol.

"I have engaged in bilaterals with many of the countries that are here and will continue to do that as we work toward Copenhagen."

Delegations from nearly 190 countries are negotiating a new climate change pact, to be completed next December in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, that would succeed the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012.

Prentice also defended a decision to keep senior Environment Canada scientist Don MacIver from the talks, saying he was excluded to save money and not for political reasons.

An agreement to free up funds to help poor countries adapt to increasingly severe droughts, floods and other effects of global warming was one of the few concrete goals the delegates set for Poznan when the talks began Dec. 1.

As part of that agreement Friday, government ministers recognized the legal right to operate a climate change fund that now has about US$60 million. Until now, the fund could not operate because its board had no right to sign contracts.