Russia’s stance complicates plans for new treaty
Posted on May 1st, 2008ClimateWire: Russia’s opposition to a new treaty imposing cuts in greenhouse gas emissions means all four of the world’s top polluters — the United States, China, India and Russia — are against making quick reductions, complicating U.N. plans to establish a new climate treaty before the end of 2009.
“The positions … are just the tip of the iceberg of the problems ahead,” said Bill Hare, a scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
The U.N. Climate Panel said last year that world emissions of heat-trapping gases, mainly from burning fossil fuels, will have to peak within the next 10 to 15 years to avoid the worst impacts of droughts, floods, heat waves and rising seas.
Russian officials said Monday that the country would not accept new binding caps on emissions under a new climate deal (Greenwire, April 29). Russian emissions were 2.13 billion tonnes in 2005, 28.7 percent below the country’s Kyoto baseline level of 1990, just before the Soviet Union — and its industries — collapsed. The figure is up, however, from a low of 2 billion tonnes in 1998.
“We hope that reason prevails,” said Barbara Helfferich, a spokeswoman for the European Union’s Executive Commission. “Climate change needs to be fought globally. We need everybody on board and we regret the fact that any country would preclude any binding commitment at this stage.”
The United States announced in April that U.S. emissions would peak in 2025, setting the country’s first theoretical cap. But some allies have criticized the act as too far in the future.
China and India say they will slow the rise of emissions but need to use more energy to fight poverty.
The most stringent U.N. scenarios indicate industrialized nations should lead the way with emissions cuts of 25 percent to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. The European Union has already planned to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 — and 30 percent if other developed nations agree (Alister Doyle, Reuters, April 30). – KJH
