Agro Perspectiva

Russia under Kyoto umbrella

07.12.2012 18:51 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) — The Kyoto Protocol has not justified Russia’s expectations. A statement was made at the 18th UN Climate Change Conference that Russia will not undertake commitments on the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, Voice of Russia reports. Over the 5 years during which the Kyoto Protocol has been operational, all participating countries have managed to reduce the number of the greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. There was also somebody who has earned by this. Speaking on the Voice of Russia, experts said a few words about why Moscow has lost interest in the Kyoto Protocol. Russia put its signature under the Kyoto Protocol in March of 1999 but ratified it only 5 years later. Director of the Institute of Global Climate and Ecology Yuri Izrael says: «The Kyoto Protocol was ratified because political considerations were taken into account. Among other things, Russia’s WTO bid also played its role. And one more point here. Had the Kyoto Protocol not been ratified, it would have not been able to come into effect: as you know, it was necessary to ensure 55 per cent of countries that are included in list No.1 of the Kyoto Protocol. And without Russia and the USA this would have been impossible». According to the 2005 agreements, Russia should have remained at the 1990 level in the number of the greenhouse gas emissions during the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. There were reasons to believe that this would be beneficial for the former Soviet Union since the last year of the now defunct USSR was a period of active production. And after the collapse of the Soviet Union it became clear that Russia would not come close to the all republics’ emission level in the few coming years. On the results of 5 years of work within the protocol’s framework experts came to the conclusion that on the one hand, the greenhouse gas emissions dropped and the sale of quotas had added much to the budget, and that on the other hand, announced volumes had not been realized. Regrettably, Russia is not among countries that have used the Kyoto Protocol at most. According to other experts, within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol Russia succeeded in introducing energy-saving technologies as well as in using renewable energy sources. Only the participation in the Kyoto Protocol proved helpful in resolving these problems, a consultant at the office of the United Nations Development Programme in Russia, Alexander Averchenkov, says. «To say that we did not learn a lesson from the Kyoto Protocol is not true. Russia has implemented this project well. It made its contribution to the climate issue and received new organizing solutions and new technologies. This was economically and ecologically justified activity.» Japan and Canada have also refused to honour the commitments of the Kyoto Protocol from 2013 to 2020. Russia will quit the Kyoto Protocol until 2020. In 8 years the Kyoto Protocol will be replaced by a new agreement. This does not mean that Russia will opt out of the Kyoto Protocol. What is meant here is this: it will give up all advantages, including quotas and also possibilities of realizing and verifying projects. Besides, Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is preparing its plan for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere for the coming 7 years.