2006 was a "lost year" for Canada in the battle to stop global warming and meet Canada's international obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, a report by the Sierra Club of Canada says.

The environmental group issued its scathing fourth Kyoto Report Card Friday, the second anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol coming into force as an international treaty.

The report says Ottawa is way behind other countries, such as Britain and Sweden, on its emissions-reduction targets, and has laid no path to make up ground.

"What we see when we look at the big picture is fundamentally a lack of a plan," Sierra Club spokesman Jean Langlois told reporters Friday at a news conference in Ottawa.

Governments that are meeting their commitments are doing so because they share the key elements of making a commitment to Kyoto, having a plan and taking action to reduce carbon emissions, he said.

'Momentum shift'

But the group noted a "momentum shift" in public awareness and government policy in early 2007, which culminated in the passing of private member's bill earlier this week in the House of Commons that requires the government to meet its commitments to Kyoto, despite the Conservative government's opposition.

Bill C-288 gives the government 60 days following royal assent to table a detailed plan outlining how Canada will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to meet its commitments under Kyoto.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he will respect the bill's passage, but added the bill gives the government no authority to spend any money to create a plan of action.

The Sierra Club also slammed the Tory's proposed clean air act, tabled in the House of Commons last October, which, it said, "would have added few powers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions beyond those already set out in federal law."

The proposed legislation, designed to deal with greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, is currently being reworked by a special legislative committee.

Alberta, Ontario singled out

The Sierra Club report shows that political parties should stop making excuses and take action, Green party Leader Elizabeth May said.

May, who previously served as the longtime executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada, noted reducing greenhouse gas emissions will bring economic and environmental benefits for Canada.  

"Let's move past the finger pointing of the Conservatives yelling across the aisle at the Liberals that they had 13 years," May said to reporters Friday in Ottawa. "Let's move past the Liberals pointing fingers back and calling the Conservatives climate-change deniers."

The report cited Ontario and Alberta as the two provinces lagging behind the rest of Canada in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The group singled out Quebec for praise as a "leader" for its own climate plan, but blamed Ottawa's lateness in providing federal funding for delays in implementing the plan.