Canada is being “opportunistic” in its stance on carbon emissions reductions, the head of the Nobel Prize-winning IPCC said Thursday.

Canada has said emissions reductions targets should apply to all major emitters, including China and India, although past negotiations have agreed that industrialised countries bear greater responsibility for climate change.

It is really an opportunistic position that they are taking,” said Rajendra K. Pachauri,. “This particular government has been a government of skeptics. They do not want to do anything on climate change,” Pachauri said.