"It's in our own interest for heaven's sake to show leadership on reducing emissions," said David Suzuki at a news conference. "I think it's really shameful, what ([John Baird]) has done. He's turning his back on the Kyoto process that we are signed onto and he's not setting hard targets starting right now and it's a big disappointment."

"I must say I was really surprised that we succeeded, we (brought together) 27 head of states in this common program, and we did it because we knew we had to do something, and someone has to start," said Fleming, who noted his country has lowered its energy consumption over the past two decades, while its economy grew. "It's not the same as (saying) the economy is going down. It's old fashioned to say that."