Russian Official Reopens Door on Ratifying the Kyoto Treaty

Contrary to earlier statements, Russia has not ruled out ratifying the Kyoto Protocol and might even submit the climate-change accord to parliament for approval next year, a government official said Wednesday.

The support of Russia, a major producer of carbon dioxide, is crucial to the treaty. It can only come into force if countries responsible for 55% of developed nations’ emissions approve it, and Russia accounts for 17% of greenhouse gases emitted.

So far, 120 countries accounting for 44% of emissions have approved the pact. But the U.S., the world’s top polluter with 36% of emissions, has refused.

“Russia will ratify the protocol if it is proved that it is in our interest -- all Russian political leaders have said so,” the Interfax news agency quoted Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Mukhamed Tsikanov as saying.

Tsikanov said Russia was “moving toward its ratification” but emphasized that no decision had been made, Interfax reported.

His statement came a day after a top Kremlin official asserted that Russia would reject the accord, in effect blocking it. Andrei Illarionov, President Vladimir V. Putin’s top economic advisor, said Tuesday that Russia could not ratify the treaty in its current form because it would limit the country’s economic growth.

Illarionov has been one of treaty’s harshest critics in Russia, while the Economic Development and Trade Ministry has expressed support for the pact. Putin has cast deep doubts on Moscow’s willingness to ratify it but has not ruled it out in public comments.

The United Nations, the host of a climate conference in Milan, Italy, of 180 countries, has expressed confidence that Russia will ratify the pact in the end despite the “mixed signals.” Moscow previously promised to ratify the treaty.

Tsikanov said the government might submit its decision on the accord to parliament next year, Interfax reported.

The Kyoto Protocol, signed by many nations at a conference in Japan in 1997, sets targets for countries to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which are seen as a key contributor to global warming.

Some of the protocol’s backers said Illarionov’s statement amounted to electioneering. They indicated that Russia would seek better terms when rules were worked out for a mechanism by which countries that were below emission target levels could sell credits to nations that still needed to make reductions.