Putin Signs:Kyoto Saved
By Oleg Shchedrov
06 November, 2004
ReutersPresident Vladimir Putin gave his seal of approval for Russia's crucial backing of the Kyoto Protocol, clearing the way for the U.N. environment pact aimed at curbing global warming to come into force early next year.
The Kremlin said Putin signed a parliament bill late on Thursday confirming Russia's ratification of the protocol. Both chambers of Russia's parliament approved ratification of the pact last month after Putin pointed the way.
The U.N. accord, backed by 126 countries, will formally enter into force 90 days after the Russian ratification documents are filed with the United Nations.
Russia's support became crucial after the United States, the world's biggest polluter, pulled out in 2001.
The 1997 Kyoto Protocol obliges rich nations to cut overall emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide by 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12 by curbing use of coal, oil and natural gas and shifting to cleaner energies like solar or wind power.
To come into force, the pact needed to be ratified by countries accounting for at least 55 percent of developed nations' greenhouse gas emissions.
Russia, which accounts for 17 percent, became the key to Kyoto after Washington pulled out saying the pact was too costly and unfairly exempted large rapidly industrializing countries such as China and India.
Russia signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1999. But it agreed to ratify only in exchange for European Union agreement on terms for Moscow's admission to the World Trade Organization.
Putin signed the bill into law just days before he was due to meet leaders of the EU, which has urged Russia's ratification, at a summit in the Netherlands.
Rising global temperatures have been linked to extreme weather including droughts, flooding and higher sea levels, which some see as possible sparks for regional conflicts.
But critics of the pact say it will cost trillions of dollars and have scant impact unless countries like China get involved.
Supporters of Kyoto protocol in Russia say that new tougher ecological standards will force national industry to adopt modern technologies and allow them to make money by selling its unused pollution quotas to industrial nations.
Optimists believe that Russia, which has seen emissions fall by about 38 percent with the closure of factories following the collapse of the Soviet Union, could earn billions of dollars by selling excess quotas to polluters abroad.
Volumes in EU markets for carbon allowances have surged since Russia signaled it would ratify the pact. Prices have been relatively stable around 8.90 euros ($10.86-11.24) a ton of carbon dioxide equivalent.
But opponents in Russia say emission limits could undermine Putin's plan to double gross domestic product in 10 years.
