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wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." - John Adams - |
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Posted on 10/05/2003 8:35:17 AM PDT by Andy from Beaverton
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Business leaders on Wednesday urged Moscow to save the Kyoto Protocol to curb global warming, saying it could bring billions of dollars to Russia.
Moscow has put off a decision on the pact which seeks to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases from cars and factories blamed for driving up global temperatures.
Russia wants cash guarantees before signing up to the pact which will fail without its backing.
Soviet-era industries have collapsed, giving Moscow spare pollution quotas to sell abroad under Kyoto, which is meant as a first step to brake rising world temperatures that may trigger more floods, droughts, tornadoes and raise sea levels.
"Kyoto will probably mean Russia will be getting upwards of three or four billion dollars a year" by selling spare quotas, director of the International Emissions Trading Association Andrei Marcu said at the World Climate Change Conference.
The association groups foreign companies including BP, Shell, Lafarge, Dupont and Tokyo Electric.
Asked about the possibility of governments or companies giving cash guarantees, he told Reuters: "I'm not sure anybody will be in a position to do that."
But potential demand for Russian quotas fell after the United States, the world's biggest polluter, pulled out of Kyoto in 2001 saying it was too expensive and wrongly excluded developing nations.
Before the U.S. withdrawal, some experts had estimated Russia's emissions could be worth $8.0 billion a year.
"In my opinion Russia will and shall ratify," said Sergei Roginko, head of a committee of Russian and foreign companies interested in cleaning up emissions. "It's in Russia's best interests."
LEAKY PIPES
Germany's Ruhrgas said it was widening a scheme to plug leaks along pipelines run by Russia's Gazprom. That could cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20-25 million tonnes a year between 2008 and 2012 and cut costs, if Russia ratifies Kyoto.
"Russia is getting an economic asset free of charge from the West," said Klaus-Robert Kabelitz, head of economic research at Ruhrgas' environmental division. "This asset can only be utilized if Russia ratifies the Kyoto Protocol."
Russia's carbon dioxide emissions have fallen by more than 30 percent from its 1990 output of about 2.4 billion tonnes, giving it huge spare quotas to trade.
Estimates of prices for trading the gas range from almost nothing to about $25 a tonne, down from $15-$45 a tonif Washington had taken part, Marcu said.
He said the European Commission had indicated it wanted carbon dioxide to trade at about 10-15 euros a tonne.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday said Russia was undecided on Kyoto, saying farm output was rising because of warmer temperatures and joking that people might even save money on fur coats in a warmer world.
Russia is also the world's number two oil exporter behind Saudi Arabia and demand might fall if consumers switch to renewable energies like solar or wind power.
Kyoto aims to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide in developed nations by 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12.
Russia has a veto on Kyoto because its needs countries producing 55 percent of emissions to sign up. So far, 44 percent have ratified, so Kyoto cannot come into force without Russia's 17 percent share. The United States accounted for 36 percent.
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wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." - John Adams - |
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We did not "pull out" of Kyoto in 2001, it had previously been unanimously defeated by the Senate, we were never "in" to beging with, even under Slick Willie. In 2001, President Bush just honestly told the world community the truth, that the US never going to sign the Treaty in its present form or anything close to it. It would destroy the American economy.
Why should the US waste a lot of time and energy making people believe something is possible that we had no intention of agreeing to ever. Better to be honest in this case and spend time on better pursuits.
Hey! Where's your compassion! Just think about how this could help Africa, which has no industry to speak of and where the main sources of pollution are trees (ref: Reagan) and animal flatulence. The industrialized nations should write them a check for $1,000,000,000,000. as their fair share. :O)
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