MOSCOW, March 29 - RAPSI. Canada may exit the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Liberal MP David McGuinty was quoted as saying by the Responding to Climate Change website on Friday.

The Canadian government stated on Thursday that it will exit the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which was established after the Rio de Janeiro summit in 1992. The decision will make the country the sole nation in the world that is not participating in the agreement. Meanwhile, the convention secretariat said that they have not yet been officially notified of Canadas exit.

According to McGuinty, the Canadian government may "continue to vacate and to abandon different treaties and international efforts" as 2015 nears, as they are moving to balance the budget and to offer tax cuts for Canadians.

Spokesperson for Canadas International Co-Operation Minister Julian Fantino said the cost of participating in the UNCCD - the smallest and the least high-profile of the three "Rio conventions" - was too high at around $140,000 per year.

Canadian CBC News cited $283,000 in grants allocated in 2010-2012, referring to government documents.

After quitting the Kyoto Protocol in 2011, Canada may also leave its "parent" agreement, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, McGuinty said.

According to the convention, Canada is one of the developed economies that have agreed to raise its "climate" financing of emerging countries to $100 billion per year by 2020.

In the past, Canada has frequently described itself as an active supporter of the desertification convention, CBC News reported. Desertification was named as a priority challenge for the country in a government report on the environment.

The Convention on Biological Diversity, also one of the three Rio conventions, is based in Montreal.