OTTAWA -- Canada's greenhouse-gas emissions dropped in 2006 but still soared above Kyoto targets, newly released figures show.
The federal government's annual greenhouse-gas inventory says Canadians produced 721 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2006.
That's 1.9 per cent below 2005 levels, but 29.1 per cent above Canada's Kyoto Protocol target of 558.4 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
The Conservative government has ignored Canada's signed Kyoto commitment, and has instead promised to bring down greenhouse-gas emissions by 20 per cent from 2006 levels by 2020.
The figures released Friday effectively set the government's baseline for future emissions reductions.
"While greenhouse gas emissions have decreased in 2006 for a number of reasons, we have to continue the fight against climate change," Environment Minister John Baird said in a statement.
Environment Canada attributed the 2006 drop to lower emissions from fossil fuel production, less demand for heating fuels because of a string of warmer winters, and greater reliance on cleaner hydro and nuclear power.
-- The Canadian Press
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