Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 4 • Number 18 • 8th October 2004
Russia’s Kyoto Ratification Reaching Home Stretch?
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On 30 September, the Russian Cabinet approved a draft law aimed at the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, which would trigger the Protocol’s entry into force. For Russian ratification to proceed, the law has to be approved by the State Duma (the lower house of the Russian parliament, which is dominated by President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party). President Putin is pushing through the ratification against the opinions of some of his economic advisors, such as the outspoken Andrei Illarionov, who claimed the treaty would be disastrous to economic growth. Economy Minister German Gref, on the other hand, supported the treaty, although he said that “the Protocol hardly has any real impact on improving ecology. It is fairly symbolic”. Russia has been stalling on ratification since Putin announced, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2002, that the country would ratify “soon”. The move towards ratification is considered to be political, and follows support by the EU of Russia’s WTO accession, formalised at a summit in May (see BRIDGES Weekly, 2 June 2004). The news prompted positive responses in the EU and among environmental groups. Friends of the Earth International’s Catherine Pearce said “If Russia ratifies Kyoto it will be a significant step forward in the fight against global warming. It will also turn up the heat on President Bush and other world leaders who have refused to join the only international treaty that could help avoid a global catastrophe”. The Kyoto Protocol, which obliges developed countries to reduce carbon emissions by five percent as compared to 1990-levels, is considered by climate scientists to be only a small first step on a long road ahead.
“Putin Revives Hopes for Kyoto Protocol,” EURAKTIV, 1 October 2004; “Russia Backs Kyoto Climate Treaty,” BBC, 30 September 2004; “Russia to Ratify Kyoto Treaty, GUARDIAN,” 1 October 2004; “Climate Change Treaty Only One Step Away?,” FOEI RELEASE, 29 September 2004.
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