Russia Kyoto Protocol ratification

The implementation of the convention is shaped by the Conference of the Parties (COP), which convenes at regular intervals. The third Conference of the Parties (COP-3) was held in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997, where the parties adopted the Kyoto Protocol. To date, 175 Parties have ratified the Protocol (August 2007), but many, such as the United States and Australia, remain opposed to ratification. With the ratification of Russia, the Kyoto Protocol entered into force on 16 February 2005. 

Pravda on October 26,2004 published articles headlined Russia has to ratify the Kyoto Protocol to become a WTO member, Russia needs to ratify the document to make it work, as Russia is the world s second largest source of greenhouse gases. The adherents of KP ratification in Russia have attempted to sway public opinion and could win despite the opinion of many experts. Nevertheless, discussions on this subject still continue. 

In addition to the important technical factors described above, two additional elements introduced significant uncertainty in the development and pursuit through the NAP of a clear path to achieving the Kyoto target on the one hand, before Russia s ratification in February 2005, the uncertainties associated with the coming into force of the Kyoto Protocol, while on the other the time-frame for the transposition into Italian law of the EU ETS Directive. 

For the Kyoto Protocol to be binding on nations, ratification was required by 55% of the countries who, taken together, were responsible for 55% of 1990 emissions. This clause ensured that developing countries alone could not force implementation of the Protocol. Despite US and strong industrialized country support of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, it took 8 years before the required number of countries ratified the agreement. The Kyoto Protocol entered into force on 14 February 2005, 90 days after ratification by Russia. As the United States had backed... 

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