#7 - JRL 7225
The Daily Yomiuri
June 17, 2003
Economics behind Russia resisting
Hirokazu Igarashi
Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

Russia still refuses to proceed with the necessary procedures to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, a 1997 international pact on global warming, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement at the Evian summit meeting earlier this month that his country was positive toward the agreement and ready to work with the global community to address the problem.

The Russian Economic Development and Trade Ministry, which is coordinating opinions for the Interagency Commission on Climate Change in Russia, examined the advantages and disadvantages of ratification in March. The ministry then compiled a draft report on the matter, which concluded there was no economic advantage to ratifying the protocol.

The protocol allows trade of greenhouse gas emission rights between countries.

If Russia ratifies the protocol, it will have a huge emission credit that it could then sell to developed countries, earning foreign currency.

However, because preliminary negotiations with developed countries were unsatisfactory to Russia, the country is believed to have lost interest in ratifying the protocol as it is unlikely to gain many economic advantages by doing so.