HONOLULU (Sept. 6) -- A Russian energy official predicted Friday that his country will be ready to sign the Kyoto Protocol next spring.
Speaking at an East-West Center international conference on climate policy, Oleg Pluzhnikov, deputy head of the Ecological Department, Ministry of Energy, said he believes upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in Russia will delay the ratification and signing of the protocol. News reports have said it could be ratified as early as this month.
"There is no very clear political signal right now, but it (ratification) should happen," Pluzhnikov told more than 40 energy experts from around the world. "I don't see any irreversible barriers to overcome. Resistance is very small."
He said there was a possibility the protocol could be ratified earlier. "All the paperwork is done so now the political decision must be made."
The Kyoto Protocol, agreed to in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, aims to reduce climate change by cutting emissions of greenhouse gases. The United States withdrew from the treaty in 2001, and it will take Russia's endorsement to bring the pact into force.
The East-West Center's three-day international conference titled "Climate Policy After Marrakech: Towards Global Participation" ends Saturday. Senior technical bureaucrats, respected policy analysts and experienced practitioners discussed recent developments in climate policies and initiatives around the globe, actions that can contribute to compliance with Kyoto emissions targets, and global efforts to bring deeper emissions cuts.
Harlan Watson, senior climate negotiator and special representative for the U.S. State Department and a conference participant, said there is still an "undercurrent" of resentment around the world because the United States didn't sign the treaty. But there is also general acceptance that the United States lacked the congressional support needed to ratify the protocol.
"There is a somber perception that if you don't ratify, you're not doing anything," Watson said. "I would match what the U.S. is doing to anyone in terms of action."
Watson said the United States has taken a leading role in science and technology initiatives and capacity-building. The United States led three initiatives in the last half year, he said, including hosting the international Earth Observation Summit to develop a 10-year plan for a coordinated, comprehensive and sustained earth observation system.
For more information on the conference, contact ZhongXiang Zhang, an East-West Center environment and climate expert who coordinated the program, at 808-944-7265 or zhangz@eastwestcenter.org