Enigin Update - Russia will not Renew Kyoto Protocol
THE UN climate change conference in Cancún along with the future of the Kyoto protocol has been put in doubt after Russia revealed it would not renew its commitment to the decade long treaty.
A late-night plenary session Alexander Berditsky, Russia's climate change envoy, stated his country was opposing any renewal of the Kyoto Protocol which is due to expire next year.
In a prepared statement Berditsky stated:
"Russia will not participate in the second commitment period of the Kyoto protocol.”
Environmental groups are disappointed by the announcement, made in the final 24 hours of the summit, making it unlikely that any of the negotiators in Cancún will produce any firm outcome.
The UK’s energy secretary Chris Huhne warned that a poor result, or worse, from the efforts in Cancún, following on last years failure in Copenhagen, will put in question the creditability of the UN negotiating process.
"Next year people will say, well, we're not going to make any progress and we end up with a zombie conference where there won't be anybody at a senior enough level to take any serious decisions at all," Huhne said.
Negotiations were to go on through the night to break the deadlock on a formal agreement, then Russia made their announcement, adding to the announcement made by Japan at the start of the talks, which see a widening of the divide between the rich and poor countries.
Japan underlined its opposition renewal of the Kyoto Protocol last night, when their negotiator Akira Yamada stated that his country felt it was "not an appropriate way or an effective way or a fair way to tackle climate change."
It is also expected that Canada will come out in opposition to a renewal of Kyoto.
Berditsky added in his statement:
"Russia has repeatedly stated, including at the highest political level, that the adoption of commitments for the second commitment period under the Kyoto protocol as it stands now would be neither scientifically, economically or politically effective."
In itself the announcement was not a shock but coming so late during the Cancún talks has put at risk the substantial progress made elsewhere at the summit this week, with agreements made on climate finance and the preservation of tropical rainforests.
Russia’s statement meant that ministers had to concentrate on how to formulate strategies to overcome the divisions over the future of the Kyoto Protocol.
During the summit has also seen tension and deadlock between China and America surrounding the delicate issue of verifying and monitoring reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.
Enigin Distributors will continue to help public and private sector organisations to reduce CO2 emissions and costs through energy efficiency, one of the most effective ways of combating climate change, whatever the outcome of the UN Climate Change talks.
As we reported yesterday, many smaller groups and local governmental agencies are achieving substantial reductions in emissions through energy efficiency actions, including using Enigin Plc's energy saving technology.
Enigin Distributors have exclusive access to Eniscope Real-time and Analytics which when installed into a facility will not only monitor and manage energy use but also provide data on emissions produced and saved.
