US resists Russian embrace of Kyoto

[Micron]

THE US stood firm in rejecting the Kyoto Protocol on global warming yesterday despite renewed pressure to yield after Russia ended years of hesitation by moving to ratify the treaty.

The US State Department had no comment on the decision by the Russian cabinet to submit the document to the Duma for approval, but said Washington remained committed in its own way to battling climate change.

"The US position on the Kyoto Protocol has not changed," spokesman Richard Boucher said. "We thought at this point it wasn't the right thing for the US, but it's up to other nations to independently evaluate whether ratification is in their national interest."

Russia's ratification is vital for transforming Kyoto from a draft 1997 agreement into a working international treaty. For years, Moscow had hedged on whether it would approve the pact.

The protocol requires industrialised signatories to trim output of six "greenhouse" gases by 2008-2012 compared with their 1990 levels.

To achieve that, they will have to cut the burning of oil, coal and gas, the carbon-bearing sources that sparked the Industrial Revolution and remain the foundation for economic life today.

Those changes carry an economic cost to consumers, a threat to vested interests and a challenge to lifestyles. Kyoto has run into a fierce crossfire from the oil lobby and from conservatives such as US President George W. Bush.

The US, which by itself accounts for a quarter of global carbon pollution, walked away from Kyoto in 2001, saying the pact was too costly and unfair because developing countries were not bound to make specific pollution cuts. Australia, too, has refused to sign the treaty.

Without the US on board, the overall reduction in emissions is likely to be 0.6 per cent if Kyoto is honoured, well below the initial target of 5.2 per cent, according to the US-based environment group World Resources Institute.

Washington has opted instead for its own efforts to curtail global warming, which include domestic initiatives to move to alternative energy sources and international programs to boost research and co-operation on combating climate change.

Moscow holds the swing vote on the protocol, making ratification by the Russian parliament the only bar to the treaty coming into force.

Russia had delayed a decision on the treaty for years as it weighed its own economic policies against the diplomatic benefits of allying itself closer to the US or to Europe, the protocol's biggest fan.

Supporters of the treaty seized on the Russian move to challenge Washington to reverse its longstanding position or risk further isolation.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan hailed Russia's move. "This is the essential first step in tackling the planetary challenge posed by climate change," Mr Annan said in a statement.

[david16]

Now there's a suprise