Boost for Kyoto after Russia, China, Canada vow support

Boost for Kyoto after Russia, China, Canada vow support

Richard Ingham, Agence France-Presse, Johannesburg, South Africa

The troubled UN pact on global warming got a big boost at the
Earth Summit here on Tuesday when Russia followed Canada in
promising it would ratify the Kyoto Protocol soon, and Japan and
China spelt out their support.

Ratification by Russia will mean that the climate change pact
will take effect, despite U.S. opposition to it.

The pact is designed to reduce the emission of so-called
"greenhouse gases" which prevent heat from radiating out into
space, causing temperatures to rise worldwide, with resultant
droughts and the melting of the ice-caps, causing the sea-level
to rise.

"Russia has signed the Kyoto Protocol and now we are preparing
for its ratification. This ratification we hope will occur in the
very near future," Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov said in a
speech at the 10-day summit in Johannesburg.

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "We are
positive about this process and the aims of the Kyoto protocol.
We intend to ratify."

On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien said the
Canadian parliament would be asked to vote on ratification
"before the end of this year".

Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji told the summit that China
had deposited its instrument of ratification with the United
Nations on Aug. 30.

"The Chinese government attaches great importance to climate
change. In recent years, the Chinese government at all levels has
exerted tremendous efforts to address this problem," said a
statement issued by the Chinese delegation.

In an apparent appeal to Russia, it added: "China hopes that
other developed countries will ratify or approve the protocol as
soon as possible so as to enable it to enter into force within
this year."

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said his country
would "do its utmost" to persuade countries to ratify Kyoto, as
the accord was vital for tackling global warming under a common
set of rules.

One of the most complex environmental treaties ever attempted,
Kyoto requires industrialized countries -- but not developing
ones -- to make specific cuts in their output of carbon-based
gases from their 1990 levels by a deadline of 2008-2012.

Its framework was agreed in 1997, but it took four years of
arduous talks to agree on its rulebook.

The protocol can take effect only after it has been ratified
by at least 55 countries accounting for at least 55 percent of
carbon dioxide emissions in 1990. As of last Friday, 87
countries, accounting for 37.1 percent of emissions by
industrialized countries, had ratified.

U.S. President George W. Bush, in one of his first acts of
office, last year announced he would not put Kyoto to the Senate
for its endorsement, and Australia, a close U.S. ally, has
followed Washington in refusing to ratify.

Bush contended that it would be too costly for the U.S.
economy to meet the emissions-cutting targets set down in the
accord negotiated under his predecessor, Bill Clinton.

And he complained that it did not include fast-emerging,
populous states, such as China and India, in its specific
commitments for cutting pollution.

The European Union and Japan have already ratified, with
Russia and Canada the last major laggards.

Ratification by Russia, the last major industrial signatory,
is vital, because this will push the emission numbers beyond 55
percent. Canadian ratification by itself would not be enough to
reach that level, even if Australia changed its mind and
ratified.

The main culprit for global warming is pollution by oil, coal
and gas. Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, these
fossil fuels have released tens of billions of tonnes of carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere.

Under the pact, industrialized signatories can "trade"
pollution under a planned market in carbon dioxide emissions. A
country that is under its quota target can sell some of that
surplus to another signatory that is over its target.

Putin told reporters that "there are still certain issues
lingering on the technical level."

He did not spell this out, but analysts said it could be
linked to Russian worries that it will not reap its expected big
profits from this market.

Its pollution levels are way below those of 1990 because of
the collapse of the Soviet economy and the conversion of its
industry and power stations to cleaner technology.

The United States, which accounts for a quarter of global
emissions, would have had to make huge emissions cuts meet
Kyoto's targets.

But its walkout means the biggest potential buyer of the
Russian surplus has disappeared.