Russia Ratifies Kyoto Protocol, Enters Into Force in February

The Russians ratified the Kyoto Protocol yesterday, meaning that enough of the world’s polluters have signed up to put it into effect. According to the Climate Change Secretariat, which services the protocol from its offices in Bonn, Germany, only four industrialized nations are not onboard: tiny Lichtenstein and Monaco, Australia and the US. The Bush administration has refused to ratify Kyoto because it says the deal unfairly exempts China, India and other developing economies. Appeals to environmentalism fall on deaf ears at the White House these days, but failure to ratify and work within the Kyoto framework may ultimately hurt American business interests.

Kyoto requires signatories to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 5.2% from 1990 levels by 2012 in hopes of slowing global warming caused by greenhouse gases. Some experts say a reduction of 60% is needed to prevent the worst of the greenhouse effect, so Kyoto doesn’t do a lot, but it gets things started. This means burning less coal, oil and natural gas and using cleaner fuels like solar and wind. And it could mark the revival of nuclear power in those places where it has gone out of fashion.

Such changes require innovation and force businesses to adapt. The parallel with domestic economic interests is valid. Auto makers don’t voluntarily make fuel efficient cars, and the market, left to itself, produces gas guzzling SUVs. But when Congress forced greater fuel efficiency on Detroit, it responded with more fuel efficient cars, and made money doing so.

While the Europeans and the Japanese are reducing their reliance on fossil fuels and creating cutting edge energy technology in other areas, the Americans and Australians (with huge coal reserves) will not face those pressures. Their companies will not have to adapt, and a spur to innovation will be absent from those economies.

However, there is no sign that this administration will ever accept Kyoto under any terms. Mr. Bush has said the treaty is "fatally flawed" because developing countries are allowed to pollute as before. Development is dirty; that can’t be changed. However, it appears that there is a 55-nation coalition of the willing prepared to act.


© Copyright 2004 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.


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