Canada supports the efforts of a six-nation pact that doesn't believe in setting targets to cut greenhouse gases, Environment Minister Rona Ambrose said Tuesday.

The United States, Australia, Japan, China, India and South Korea, all part of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, believe targets should be voluntary and looks at developing technologies that reduce emissions.

"We've been looking at the Asia-Pacific Partnership for a number of months now because the key principles around [it] are very much in line with where our government wants to go," Ambrose told reporters.

Environment Minister Rona Ambrose in the Commons on Tuesday.
Environment Minister Rona Ambrose in the Commons on Tuesday.

"It's a very interesting group and I think they're doing things that we're very interested in participating in further down the road," she said after meeting two senior U.S. government officials who deal with the environment.

The Conservatives have said that Canada has no chance of meeting its targets under the Kyoto accord and must set more realistic goals for cutting greenhouse gases.

The international agreement requires Canada to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to six per cent below 1990 levels by 2012.

But since 1990, emissions have gone up, with the latest figures showing an increase of almost 30 per cent.

Ambrose praised the pact because it includes China and India, which are not bound by Kyoto targets.

"Right now under the protocol there is no commitment for a number of countries to do that. So that's the crux of the issue for Canada," she said.

John Bennett of the Sierra Club told Reuters that the comments by Ambrose shows that the Canadian government is not serious about tackling climate change.

"There isn't anything that will happen because of the partnership. It relies entirely on voluntary action and the hope that industry will come forward," he said.

"Canada is being enthusiastic about a meaningless public relations stunt by the U.S. government when it should be talking about the importance of working ...on a program that has real targets."