A senior Kremlin official said Tuesday that Russia would not ratify the international treaty requiring cuts in emissions of gases linked to global warming, delivering what could be the fatal blow to years of diplomatic efforts to address the problem.
With the Bush administration having previously rejected the treaty, known as the Kyoto Protocol, Russia essentially held a veto over its enactment, since the agreement could only take effect when adopted by enough countries to account for 55 percent of emissions by industrialized countries. More than 100 countries have done so, but without Russia or the US, that 55 percent threshold cannot be met.
President Vladimir Putin announced Russia's rejection of the treaty during a meeting at the Kremlin with European businessmen, the senior official, Andrei Illarionov, said in public remarks and in an interview.
Putin did not publicly discuss the treaty, giving hope to officials in Europe and at a UN climate conference under way in Milan that Russia was still open to adopting it. But Illarionov asserted in a telephone interview that Russia's decision was unequivocal.
"We shall not ratify," he said.
That decision, ending more than a year of speculation about Russia's position, brushed aside impassioned appeals from the UN and from individual countries, especially in Europe, that have embraced the protocol as the best way to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases that many scientists have linked to a potentially dangerous rise in global temperatures.
The treaty, completed in the Japanese city of Kyoto in 1997 after two years of intense diplomatic wrangling, called on major industrialized countries to reduce emissions before 2012 by 5.2 percent from 1990 levels. Barring an 11th-hour reversal of position by Russia, the treaty now appears dead, leaving uncertain the future of international cooperation on the question of global warming.
■ The protocol obliges industrialized countries to cut or limit emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by an average 5.2 percent from 1990 levels by 2012. These gases are believed to trap heat in the atmosphere, warming the Earth.
■ Countries may offset the requirements by properly managing forests and farmlands that absorb carbon dioxide, known as carbon sinks. They can earn further credits by helping developing countries avoid carbon emissions.
■ The agreement allows for emissions trading.
■ The signatory countries face mandatory punishment if they fail to meet their emission targets.
As recently as last year, Putin indicated Russia's willingness to sign the accord, but since then he and other officials have wavered, raising questions about whether the country stood to benefit from ratification, especially without the participation of the US and without mandatory limits on developing countries like China.
That exemption to China, as well as to India and other big developing nations, also figured prominently in US President George W. Bush's stated rationale for opposing the accord, as did concern over the costs of complying with it.
At a climate conference in Moscow in September, Putin said Russia remained committed to addressing climate change, but he also shocked many conferees with an impromptu quip suggesting that global warming could benefit a country hardened by winter cold.
"We shall save on fur coats and other warm things," he said.
Illarionov said the treaty's supporters had failed to answer questions about the treaty's scientific rationale, its fairness and the potential harm to Russia's economy.
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