Economy-Destroying Kyoto Protocol on 'Global Warming' Dies From Lack of Support

From:
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/12/2/121957.shtml

Economy-Destroying Kyoto Protocol on 'Global Warming' Dies From Lack of
Support

NewsMax.com Wires
Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2003

MOSCOW - A senior adviser to President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that
Russia could not ratify the Kyoto Protocol limiting emissions of greenhouse
gases, dealing a mortal blow to the pact that required Russia's ratification
to take effect.

"In its current form, the Kyoto Protocol places significant limitations on
the economic growth of Russia," Putin's economic adviser, Andrei Illarionov,
told reporters in the Kremlin. "Of course, in this current form this
protocol can't be ratified."

Putin had previously cast doubts on Moscow's willingness to ratify the
protocol but hadn't ruled out ratification.

The 1997 Kyoto Protocol calls for countries to reduce their emissions of
greenhouse gases, a key factor in the theory of human-caused global warming.

To come into force, the pact must be ratified by no fewer than 55 countries,
accounting for at least 55 percent of global emissions in 1990. Under the
treaty's complex rules, the minimum could be reached only with Russia's
ratification because the United States and several other nations have
rejected the treaty.

At a U.N. climate conference in Milan, Italy, a Greenpeace official insisted
that Russia's decision would not stop other nations' efforts to reduce
greenhouse gases.

"The encouraging news about this is that countries are going ahead with
reducing their emissions without having Russia ratify," Steven Guilbeault
said.

Guilbeault said he thought Illarionov's stand was "a political comment in
light of upcoming Duma elections" Sunday in the lower house of Russia's
legislature.

The conference opened Monday, gathering government officials, activists and
scientists, but doubt over Russia cast a cloud over it. Participants say
that they doubt any major breakthroughs will be achieved and that
alternative strategies at keeping emissions cuts alive would be discussed in
the corridors.

Russia's reluctance to ratify the pact despite its earlier pledge to do so
has vexed Kyoto's European and U.N. backers, who warned Moscow that it would
lose politically and economically if it fails to ratify Kyoto.

But Illarionov, who made his comments on the sidelines of Putin's meeting
with European business executives in the Kremlin, said firmly that the pact
was against Russian interests.

"It's impossible to undertake responsibilities that place serious limits on
the country's growth," Illarionov said. He said it would be unfair to Russia
to curb emissions and stymie its own growth while the United States and
other nations that account for the bulk of global emissions refuse to join
the pact.


Associated Press