Russia ratifies Kyoto accord

SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS

Russia’s parliament has ratified the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement that’s intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow down global warming.

If Russian president Vladimir Putin approves the deal, it will come into force early next year.

Without Russia’s approval, the Kyoto Protocol, which has been rejected by the United States and Australia, can’t come into effect. It needs ratification by 55 industrialized nations that were responsible for producing at least 55 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in 1990.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia’s emissions are already 30 percent below what it produced in 1990.

According to the Kyoto Protocol, countries can trade greenhouse gas emission credits. Russia could also sell unused emissions credits to countries that have exceeded their limits.

Once the Kyoto Protocol takes effect, industrialized countries will have until 2012 to cut their emissions of six key greenhouse gases to 5.2 per cent below the 1990 level.