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02/12/2003 Update 4 December 2003The Russian Deputy deputy economy minister, Mukhamed Tsikhanov, told the Milan climate talks that no decision had been made by the Russian Parliament and that the country was moving towards the treaty. He told the BBC: "There are no decisions about ratification apart from the fact that we are moving towards ratification." This confirms what Greenpeace and WWF said in this press release (see below) in response to the statement by Putin's economic advisor, Andrei Illarionov earlier this week. An interesting piece of information has sprung to hand. Illarionov, addressing the press at a Russian Science conference in September, used several slides of statistics taken from a study by one Margo Thorning. Thorning is the chief economist for the American Council for Capital Formation, which has received more than $500,000 from ExxonMobil since 1998. She also appeared at an anti-Kyoto conference organised recently by the American Enterprise Institute ($900,000+ from Exxon since 1998; ExxonMobil head Lee Raymond is vice-chair of the AEI board).
Milan, Italy, 02 Dec 2003 - The statement of a Russian economic advisor against the Kyoto Protocol was nothing more than pre-election bluster, ahead of Moscow's Duma election this Sunday, according to WWF and Greenpeace, participating in the Climate Change Conference in Milan. A Russian economic advisor to President Putin, Andrei Illarionov, had stated today that he believed Russia would not ratify the Kyoto Protocol in its present form, because it placed "significant limitations on the economic growth of Russia". Alexey Kokorin, the head of WWF's Climate Change program in Russia, said that Illarionov's statement is of a pre-election political manoeuvering and did not hold any weight as to what Russia would actually do. "Illarionov does not speak for the President or the Russian Government,"said Kokorin. "This is just the latest statement in a long line of predictions by Illarionov which have failed to eventuate. He opposed the Russian energy strategy which was then adopted in May 2003, and he poured cold water on the "While Illarionov's opinion will sound like music to the ears of the US administration, it's far too early to be reading the funeral notice of the Kyoto Protocol," said Steven Guilbeault, Greenpeace International Climate Campaigner. "The person who speaks for Russia is Vladimir Putin and not some bureaucrat. President Putin has made numerous statements in the past few months, reaffirming Russia would ratify." Elections for the Duma, the Russia Parliament's lower house, will take place on Sunday 7th December. The Russian Presidential elections will take place in March 2004. Russia is expected to ratify after those elections.
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Latest Campaign News KYOTO MARCH - Saturday 12 February 2005 In February the Kyoto Protocol finally comes into force. Join the Campaign Against Climate Change on a march in central London to mark the occassion by protesting the US' refusal to join the Protocol. Assemble at Lincoln's Inn Fields at 11.30. For more information go to www.campaign againstclimatechange.net Esso up to old tricks on Kyoto Governments from around the world met in Buenos Aires to discuss protecting the climate under the Kyoto Protocol. Greenpeace sent a delegation to the conference to keep an eye on the activities of Esso and other fossil fuel lobbies.more "Global warming is a conspiracy against America" As a taste of what is to come during a second Bush term Myron Ebell, an advisor to President Bush on climate issues, recently argued that global warming is a myth cooked up by the EU to 'hamper American competitiveness'... more Russia Ratifies The Russian parliament have voted to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, which brings the treaty into force... more Chief Scientist: we need immediate action on climate change "Action is affordable, inaction is certainly not," says Sir David King, the UK governments chief scientist...more |
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