EU President Says Russia Ready to Ratify Climate Protocol

STRASBOURG, France, December 16, 2003 (ENS) - European Commission President Romano Prodi today assured the world that Europe is wedded to the Kyoto climate protocol and expressed confidence that Russia will join the pact so that it can become legally binding. "The recent climate change conference in Milan confirmed the strong international support for the Kyoto Protocol. We are confident that Russia will ratify the protocol so that it can enter into force," Prodi said in Strasbourg.

Romano Prodi of Italy is President of the European Commission (Photo courtesy Office of the President)

Over the past year, Russia has been unclear about whether or not it would get behind the protocol that would set quantifiable limits on its emission of six greenhouse gases.

But today in Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov said that Russia is attuning its national legislation "in compliance with the Kyoto protocol provisions,” the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

Fedotov said that currently “proposals to modernize the national monitoring and verify the sources of greenhouse gas emissions that meet the protocol and provide the access to flexibility mechanisms in its framework are being worked out."

The protocol's flexible mechanisms allow industrialized countries such as Russia and the EU to meet their emissions targets by cooperating with other countries or through the trading of emissions credits.

Russia “attaches great importance to solving problems of global climate changes of climate,” Fedotov said.

Russia's ratification would greatly strengthen Europe's efforts to cool the global climate. On May 1, 2004, 10 new member states will join the European Union, extending the EU territory close to the Russian border, with only Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova in between. If Russia also undertakes greenhouse gas emissions limits, the protocol area would extend almost uninterrupted from Ireland on the Atlantic Ocean to the Russian Far East on the Pacific Ocean.

European Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom listens to the debate at the Milan climate conference, December 11, 2003. (Photo courtesy IISD/ENB-Leila Mead)

"At the EU level," said Wallstrom, "we have put into place measures that will reduce emissions at least cost to our economy. From our analyses we know that we can meet our Kyoto obligations without harming our economy."

Measures taken by the EU to reduce greenhouse gas emissions include the promotion of electricity from renewables and of biofuels, increased energy efficiency of buildings and passenger cars and emissions trading between large industrial installations.

In the interests of energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reductions, European energy ministers meeting in Brussels Monday endorsed the broad outlines of a plan to impose European eco-design rules on all products that use electricity.

The far reaching proposal would create a framework law, known as a directive, which will define general principles, to be followed by implementing measures setting targets such as minimum energy efficiency goals for particular product groups. These could range from domestic appliances to industrial electric motors, and from to office equipment to consumer electronics.

The ministerial backing represents a victory for the European Commission. Untill Monday the proposal had been the subject of fierce criticism from all sides, including EU governments.

Now the eco-design product rules will be developed by the European Commission and adopted by a member state regulatory committee rather than through the traditional codecision route involving the European Parliament and ministers.

The council of energy ministers will frame the conditions for adopting the rules very tightly. An official close to the negotiations said, "Ministers don't want to give complete freedom" for the Commission to aim the directive at any product group it wishes."

{ENDS Environment Daily contributed to this report.}