Moscow - Russia confirmed on Thursday (click here) it would not make cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from 2013 under the U.N.’s Kyoto Protocol, joining Canada and Japan in rejecting an extension of the plan for fighting climate change.
The foreign ministry said Moscow would not join industrialized nations led by the European Union in signing up for cuts beyond a first round of commitments ending on December 31, 2012.
Earlier this month, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said on Twitter that a decision “had not been made” on new obligations, suggesting the government was still mulling participation.
Russia said on Thursday it would now focus on a U.N. plan, agreed last year, to come up with a new international deal by 2015 obliging both developed and developing countries to limit gas emissions that would enter into force from 2020.
“The Russian Federation finds the extension of the Kyoto protocol in its current state ineffective and does not intend to take on obligations to lower greenhouse gas emissions as part of the so-called second round of liabilities,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement....
When the USA was viewed as the largest polluter on Earth and would not participate with the Kyoto Protocol, it was becoming more and more difficult to carry out any attempt to end greenhouse gas emissions. There were also other countries that were not participants. The Kyoto Protocol expired in 2012; it was hoped all the same countries would renew it for a second round.
Targets for the first commitment period (click here)
The targets for the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol cover emissions of the six main greenhouse gases, namely:
• Carbon dioxide (CO2);
• Methane (CH4);
• Nitrous oxide (N2O);
• Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs);
• Perfluorocarbons (PFCs); and
• Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)...
• Carbon dioxide (CO2);
• Methane (CH4);
• Nitrous oxide (N2O);
• Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs);
• Perfluorocarbons (PFCs); and
• Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)...
