10 November 2011: The UNFCCC Secretariat has published the report (FCCC/IDR.5/CAN) of the in-depth review of the fifth national communication (NC5) of Canada. The Expert Review Team (ERT) concludes that the NC5 generally provides a good overview of the national climate policy of Canada.

The information provided in the NC5 includes most mandatory information required by the UNFCCC reporting guidelines and most elements of the supplementary information under Article 7 of the Kyoto Protocol. During the review, Canada provided additional information on all requested areas so that all mandatory elements were fulfilled. However, the NC5 does not contain information on how Canada’s use of the mechanisms under Articles 6, 12 and 17 of the Kyoto Protocol is supplemental to domestic action. During the review, Canada clarified that it is not planning to make significant use of the Kyoto Protocol mechanisms to meet its target under the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.

The ERT notes that changes in the policy framework have slowed down the mitigation action in Canada considerably and that some earlier planned policies and measures (PaMs) were never implemented and have not yet been fully replaced by other PaMs to achieve equivalent emission reductions. The ERT encourages Canada to undertake a number of improvements regarding transparency and completeness of reporting by moving beyond the bare minimum required by the guidelines. [Publication: Report of the In-depth Review of the Fifth National Communication of Canada]