This week's conference in Bali will put Canada among the world leaders in battling climate change, according to federal Environment Minister John Baird.
"We want to negotiate an agreement that's tough and effective and brings in all the big players," Baird told CTV's Question Period on Sunday, adding that failure is not an option.
About 10,000 delegates from 190 countries are gathering on the Indonesian resort island on Monday for the UN climate change conference.
Representatives, including Baird and some of his provincial counterparts, will attempt to start negotiations for a replacement to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
"The reports on climate change (and) four major reports by the UN panel out this year really call for significant action and we're going to work to see what we can do to get greenhouse gas emissions stabilized and then going down in short order," Baird said.
The Harper government says its plan would see Canada cut its emissions by 20 per cent by 2020. However, the Harper government uses 2006 as a baseline, not 1990 as the Kyoto Protocol does. Critics say even if the Tory plan worked, Canada wouldn't reach its target of a six per cent cut below 1990 levels until 2020, not 2012.
The minister brushed off the fact that Liberal leader Stephane Dion has said that he intends to attend the conference despite the fact that the Harper government has not invited any opposition members -- a break with tradition.
"We're not interested in a political fight, we're interested in a fight against climate change," said Baird.
Dion has said that the Harper government is attempting to sabotage the Kyoto Protocol, and has written a letter asking that it reverse its decision on opposition participation.
But Baird said that Dion has already had his chance to deal with climate change as a member of the previous Liberal government and failed to take action.
"Since Kyoto was signed 10 years ago, under Stephane Dion's leadership, greenhouse gases went up by 35.9 per cent," he said, "We have one of the worst records in the developing world. I think Canada can do a lot better."
Critics have noted the Tories opposed ratifying Kyoto.
Baird also dismissed suggestions that his government will face an added challenge as Australia's new prime minister, Kevin Rudd, unlike his predecessor, has said he's going to sign on to Kyoto.
"Rudd (has) been very clear and very forceful that any future agreement must include all the big emitters like China, India and the United States," Baird said. "So we hope and believe that Australia will continue to be a strong ally for real action on global warming. We're not going to let big polluters off in Bali."
Baird went on to say that "we won't have achieved anything if we just close down a steel mill in Canada and then buy steel from China."
