Moscow does not plan to sell its unused Kyoto Protocol emissions rights and instead wants to carry them over to a new agreement, Kremlin advisor Alexander Bedritsky said Friday.
“Russia is going to carry the saved quotas in the Kyoto Protocol over to a new agreement,” Bedritsky said. “As far as I know, there are no plans to sell emission quotas.”
Under Kyoto, countries comfortably under their emissions targets can sell the difference in the form of AAUs to other nations. Russia has an inventory of billions of AAUs because of the collapse of its industry in the 1990s. Bedritsky said curbing greenhouse gas emissions would help stimulate new technologies and in turn economic growth.
Tackling the growth in emissions was necessary to show the current generation could take responsibility for future generations, he said.
Bedritsky stood by Russia’s offer to reduce its emissions by up to 25 percent from its 1990 emission figures, which, because of the collapse of Soviet-era industries in the 1990s, would still allow Russian emissions to grow in future.
He also said the Copenhagen talks were likely to result in a “political” rather than a legal agreement.
Russia expects the accord to be “global,” with participants agreeing that a 50 percent cut in greenhouse emissions by 2050 should come as a result of joint efforts of both developed and developing nations, he said.
President Dmitry Medvedev will go to Copenhagen for the final scheduled day of the UN climate change summit on Dec. 18.
(Reuters, Bloomberg)
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.