Russia's Cabinet OKs global-warming treaty

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The treaty, drafted in 1997 at a U.N. conference in Kyoto, Japan, seeks to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that are widely seen as a key factor behind global warming.

Without Russia's support, the pact -- which has been rejected by the United States and Australia -- cannot come into effect. It needs ratification by 55 industrialized nations accounting for at least 55 percent of global emissions in 1990.

The Cabinet's action was cheered by United Nations officials and the governments of Germany, Italy, Britain and Japan and the European Union, which have been among the agreement's most fervent backers.

"Russia's green light will allow the climate train to leave the station so we can really begin addressing the biggest threat to the planet and its people," said Klaus Toepfer, head of the U.N. Environment Program.
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[floydian slip]

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1005-32.htm

""The only real reason that Moscow delayed ratification was that the Bush administration had given Russia what amounted to a veto on the treaty, which it then used to extort major concessions from the European Union. That game is over, so what happens now?

The United States will not rejoin Kyoto in the near future. But in the long run, the treaty imposes a discipline on energy use on America's industrial rivals that will make them more efficient and push them into new technologies.

Concerns about economic competitiveness may drive the United States back to the Kyoto table even before the tangible evidence of climate change convinces American public opinion of the need to return.""