No Russia Kyoto approval by earth summit - minister
A deputy minister on Tuesday ruled out Russian ratification of a landmark environmental treaty in time for a global conference in Moscow this month.
Russia's ratification of the Kyoto protocol, that aims to cut emissions of gases causing global warming, is vital if the treaty is to come into force worldwide. But deputy economy minister Mukhamed Tsikhanov, while saying the government would continue to press for approval of the treaty, said the State Duma (lower house) would not have time to ratify it before the September 29 conference on climate change.
"Ratification is not possible before the summit...but it is still possible the Duma will start the process by the time the summit opens," he told Reuters. "The Duma will study the draft laws for a maximum of half a year," he said. The Duma went back to work on Tuesday, and many observers had suggested it could hustle the treaty through before the conference. But a delay such as Tsikhanov suggested could leave ratification caught up in campaigning for December elections. The protocol, agreed at a summit in Kyoto, Japan in 1997, employs a complex weighting system for emission quotas and only comes into force if countries responsible for 55 percent of emissions ratify it.
Without the United States, by far the world's largest polluter, it needs to be endorsed by Russia, which accounts for 17 percent of emissions.
The economy ministry has said the treaty would not harm Russia, and Tsikhanov said the government would keep up momentum towards ratification. "On September 19, the government's interdepartmental commission on climate change will meet and we will examine the set of draft laws needed for ratification," he said. "After the meeting, the government will pass the laws on to the Duma, where they will be examined."
Although the final decision must come from the Duma, most observers think ratification will proceed only if approved by President Vladimir Putin, whose loyalists dominate parliament.
In June, he said the treaty was a step in the right direction but would not solve the question of climate change. Russian emission levels were assessed before the collapse of the Soviet Union decimated the country's industrial base, so it has substantial spare capacity, which it could trade with over-polluting nations.
|
RUSSIA IN FACTS
