Home>News Center>World
         
 

Putin signs bill to ratify Kyoto Protocol
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-05 15:50

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill confirming Russia's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, the Kremlin said Friday, clearing the way for the global climate pact to come into force early next year.

Both houses of parliament last month ratified the protocol, which aims to stem global warming by reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Putin signed the bill on Thursday, the Kremlin said.

Without Russia's support, the pact ¡ª which has been rejected by the United States and Australia ¡ª could not have come into effect. It needed endorsement by 55 industrialized nations accounting for at least 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions in 1990.

The United States alone accounted for 36 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in 1990, while Russia accounted for 17 percent.

After years of hesitation, Putin pledged in May to speed up approval in return for the European Union (news - web sites)'s support of Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization. The 1997 pact would take effect 90 days after Russia notified the United Nations of its ratification.

The pact's approval followed fierce debates among Russian officials. Russia's foes of Kyoto, led by Putin's economic adviser Andrei Illarionov, warned that the pact would stymie the nation's economic growth. Kyoto backers rejected that claim, saying even after a five-year recovery, the post-Soviet economic meltdown has left emissions some 30 percent below the baseline.

Russian officials have voiced hope that the treaty will enable Moscow to attract foreign investment for its crumbling industries through provisions allowing countries to trade greenhouse gas emission allowances.

Under the treaty, Russia can sell unused emissions credits to countries that have exceeded their limits.

Once the deal takes effect, industrialized countries will have until 2012 to cut their collective emissions of six key greenhouse gases to 5.2 percent below the 1990 level. Greenhouse gases are believed to trap heat in the atmosphere, warming the Earth.

The next round of international climate talks is scheduled for next month in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and negotiations on curbing emissions after 2012 are due to start next year.

Russia's parliament has said that Moscow's decision on post-2012 emission cuts would be contingent on the outcome of those talks.



 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Nation likely to be 3rd largest trading power

 

   
 

Nutritional imbalance plagues people

 

   
 

Mine blast kills 33, injures 6 in Henan

 

   
 

Coal mining: Most deadly job in China

 

   
 

Shen and Zhao win Cup of China

 

   
 

Consumer price remains stable in October

 

   
  Police lose control of Mosul amid uprising
   
  Arafat buried in Chaotic scenes in West Bank
   
  U.S. may use Iraq meeting to engage Iran
   
  Bush vows second-term push for Palestinian state
   
  Dutch to withdraw troops from Iraq in March
   
  Haiti PM orders arrest warrant against Aristide
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
Kyoto Protocol clears key hurdle in Russia
   
Russia rules out accepting Kyoto Protocol
   
Nation approves Kyoto Protocol
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Advertisement