Russia will ‘never’ sign second Kyoto Protocol

Russia will “never” sign up to an extended Kyoto Protocol, according to the environment head of its Foreign Ministry. Oleg Shamanov at the Foreign Ministry said: “We will never sign […]

Russia will “never” sign up to an extended Kyoto Protocol, according to the environment head of its Foreign Ministry. Oleg Shamanov at the Foreign Ministry said: “We will never sign Kyoto 2 because it would not cover every country,” reported The Moscow Times.

His comments come ahead of the Durban summit where heads of state are hoping to extend the international agreement to cut greenhouse gases by an average of 5% below 1990 levels although each country agreed individual targets. The current period covered is for 2008-2012, but the Russian environment chief’s words cast the global concord into doubt.

Plans to extend the agreement between the 37 industrialised countries and the European community were scuppered at Cancun talks in 2010, when Russia’s climate change envoy, Alexander Berditsky dismissed the possibility, alongside reluctance from Canada and Japan.

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