Canada has become the first country to officially announce it is withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Environment Minister Peter Kent made the announcement just one day after a United Nations Climate Change Conference wrapped up in Durban, South Africa.

Peter Kent, Canadian environment minister: “Canada went to Durban in a spirit of goodwill. We went committed to being constructive. We went looking to reach an international climate change agreement that covers all major emitters. As we said from the outset, the Kyoto Protocol does not represent the path forward for Canada. The Durban platform is a way forward that builds on our work at Copenhagen and at Cancún.”

Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions increased by 17 percent between 1990 and 2009 in part due to Canada’s expanding tar sands oil development. Canada has the world’s third largest oil reserves behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.