Russia Starts Kyoto Climate Clock Ticking

NAIROBI, Kenya, November 18, 2004 (ENS) - The 90 day countdown to the Kyoto Protocol’s entry into force was triggered today by the receipt of the Russian Federation’s instrument of ratification by the United Nations Secretary-General. The Protocol will become legally binding on its 128 Parties on February 16, 2005.

Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Andrey Denisov formally handed over the accession papers on ratification of the protocol to Kofi Annan, who is in Nairobi for the UN Security Council meeting on the Sudan humanitarian crisis.

Andrey Denisov is permanent representative of the Russian Federation to the UN. (Photo courtesy UN)

He called the ratification "a historic step forward in the world's efforts to combat a truly global threat." Most important, he said, "it ends a long period of uncertainty."

When the protocol takes effect, 30 industrialized countries will be legally bound to meet quantitative targets for reducing or limiting their emissions of six greenhouse gases linked to global warming.

Countries that have ratified the Protocol, and have been trying to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases even before its entry into force, now have a legally binding obligation to do so, Annan pointed out.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan (Photo courtesy UN)

Only four industrialized countries have not yet ratified the protocol - Australia and the United States and the tiny European countries of Liechtenstein and Monaco.

Australia and the United States have stated that they do not plan to ratify; together they account for over one third of all greenhouse gases emitted by the industrialized world. President George W. Bush and Prime Minister John Howard, who both won re-election in the past two months, say that adhering to the protocol would not be in their countries' best economic interest.

The secretary-general took the occasion to urge the United States and Australia to join the rest of the industrialized countries in ratifying the protocol.

"All countries must now do their utmost to combat climate change and to keep it from undermining our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals," said Annan. "I therefore take this opportunity to urge those developed countries that have not ratified the Protocol to ratify it and limit their emissions."

The Parties to the Climate Change Convention will have their next major meeting in Buenos Aires from December 6 to 17. "I hope they will use that occasion to seize the promising possibilities that have been opened up by this major development," Annan said.

In a statement, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia had not taken the decision to ratify lightly, acknowledging that the Kyoto Protocol will have consequences for "Russia's social and economic development."

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) listens to U.S. President George W. Bush during a White House meeting. The two leaders have gone in different directions on the Kyoto climate protocol. (Photo by Eric Draper courtesy The White House)

Today's ceremony was attended by Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner who serves as Kenya's assistance environment minister.

Toepfer said the circumstances of the ratification underlined the vital links between the environment and global peace and also the importance of UNEP and its African headquarters to world affairs. Scientists predict that Africa, which is only responsible for just over three percent of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, is likely to be hit hardest of any region by the impacts of climate change.

“A period of uncertainty has closed. Climate change is ready to take its place again at the top of the global agenda,” said Joke Waller-Hunter, Executive Secretary of the Climate Change Secretariat, which services the UN Climate Change Convention and its Kyoto Protocol.

“Next month’s ministerial conference in Buenos Aires will provide the next major opportunity for governments, businesses and civil society to promote the innovative new policies and technologies that will create the climate-friendly economy of the future,” she said.

The protocol’s entry into force means that from February 16, 2005, the international carbon trading market will become a legal and practical reality. The protocol’s emissions trading regime enables industrialized countries to buy and sell emissions credits amongst themselves. This approach is expected to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of emissions cuts.

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) will move from an early implementation phase to full operations. The CDM will encourage investments in developing country projects that limit emissions while promoting sustainable development.

The protocol’s Adaptation Fund, established in 2001, will start preparing itself to help developing countries cope with the negative effects of climate change.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, industrialized countries are to reduce their combined emissions of six greenhouse gases during the five year period 2008-2012 to an average of 5.2 percent below 1990 levels.

Rapid melting of the Lucia Glacier in South America's Patagonia Icefield shows in the bare patches on either side of the remaining ice mass. (Photo by Andres Rivera courtesy NASA)

“Reducing the risks of global warming will require the active engagement of the entire international community,"said Waller-Hunter. "I urge the U.S. and other major emitters without Kyoto targets to do their part by accelerating their national efforts to address climate change.”

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the most up-to-date scientific research suggests that humanity’s emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases will raise global average temperatures by 1.4 to 5.8°C by the end of the century.

These emissions are expected to affect weather patterns, water resources, the cycling of the seasons, ecosystems and extreme climate events.

Scientists have already found many early signals of global warming, including the shrinking of mountain glaciers and Arctic and Antarctic sea ice, less ice on lakes and rivers, longer summer growing seasons, changes in the arrival and departure dates of migratory birds, and the spread of many insects and plants towards the poles.