Russia to Ratify Kyoto Protocol

04/09/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: Criticism of U.S. for not Signing Kyoto Continues||Russia's Ratification Meets Last Requirement Needed for Accord to Come into Effect|| Fighting Against Terrorism is O.K. But Same Impetus & Financial Resources Should be Devoted to Fight Against Poverty, Says Ecuador's president, Gustavo Noboa||70-odd Page Plan to Turn Rio Promises into Reality to be Given Final Approval by Summit||EU to Form Coalition of Nations Willing to Commit to its Targets on Increasing Use of Wind & Solar Energy|| STORY: Russia announced Tuesday it will ratify an accord on reducing smokestack emissions and other causes of global warming. Moscow's approval would clear the way for the agreement to become law in much of the world - but not the United States.

Russia's promise on the agreement, which the United States has rejected, came as leaders at the World Summit wrapped up a long-term blueprint for tackling the global woes of poverty and pollution. Attention at the summit shifted to immediate crises, including Iraq.

The United States continued to be criticized for its rejection of the Kyoto Protocol, which requires developed nations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases to 1990 levels by 2012. Many countries view the accord as crucial to reversing a global warming trend blamed for cataclysmic storms, floods and droughts worldwide.

Russia's ratification of Kyoto would meet the last requirement for the accord to come into effect: that the countries on board account for at least 55 percent of carbon dioxide emissions based on 1990 output.

Among the main industrialized nations, Australia and Canada are also holdouts, though Canada promised Monday to put the accord before its Parliament this year.

Ecologists often describe forests and rain forests as the "lungs of the planet," absorbing carbon dioxide and transmitting oxygen to the atmosphere.

Ecuador's president, Gustavo Noboa, raised a call for such compensation during a forum on financing for sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

"If the developing world needs our oxygen, we must be economically compensated," he said, referring to competing demands between developing and preserving tropical rain forests.

"I agree that we should fight against terrorism," he said. "But I would like to give some of the same impetus and financial resources to the fight against poverty."

His call for action was echoed by most of the dozens of leaders who spoke Tuesday.

Late Monday, negotiators resolved the last main sticking points in a 70-odd page plan to turn commitments made 10 years ago at the Rio Earth Summit into reality. Most of the items were geared to helping the world's poorest people without polluting. The deal is next to be given final approval by the summit.

After losing its push for targets on increasing the use of wind and solar energy, the European Union said Tuesday it would form a coalition of nations willing to commit to such strict timetables.

Many developing countries had sided with the United States and Japan against renewable energy targets, arguing they were a rich country's luxury.

PHOTO CAPTION

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov speaks to the plenary session of the World Summit on Sustainable Development at Sandton Convention Center in Johannesburg on Tuesday Sept. 3, 2002. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mill