Putin signs bill to ratify Kyoto Protocol
AP, Moscow
President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill confirming Russia's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, the Kremlin said yesterday, clearing the way for the global climate pact to come into force early next year. Both houses of parliament last month ratified the protocol, which aims to stem global warming by reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Putin signed the bill on Thursday, the Kremlin said. Without Russia's support, the pact which has been rejected by the United States and Australia could not have come into effect. It needed endorsement by 55 industrialised nations accounting for at least 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions in 1990. The United States alone accounted for 36 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in 1990, while Russia accounted for 17 percent. After years of hesitation, Putin pledged in May to speed up approval in return for the European Union's support of Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organisation. The 1997 pact would take effect 90 days after Russia notified the United Nations of its ratification. The pact's approval followed fierce debates among Russian officials. Russia's foes of Kyoto, led by Putin's economic adviser Andrei Illarionov, warned that the pact would stymie the nation's economic growth.
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