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A Weblog monitoring coverage of environmental issues and science in the UK media. By Professor Emeritus Philip Stott. The aim is to assess whether a subject is being fairly covered by press, radio, and television. Above all, the Weblog will focus on science, but not just on poor science. It will also bring to public notice good science that is being ignored because it may be politically inconvenient.

Tuesday, December 02, 2003

Russia ditches the Kyoto Protocol "in its present form"......

Just announed at the Milan Climate Conference (12.56 GMT - recently updated): 'Russia pulls away from Kyoto pact' (BBC Online Science News, December 2):

"Russia says it will not ratify in its present form the Kyoto Protocol designed to mitigate global warming.

'The Kyoto Protocol places significant limitations on the economic growth of Russia,' presidential aide Andrei Illarionov told a conference in Milan.

The landmark environmental pact cannot now enter into legal force, especially since the US has also repudiated it."

This is surely a pivotal moment. But can anyone be surprised when confronted by European hypocrisy on this scale - 'Cars risk Europe's climate cuts' (BBC Online Science News, earlier in the day):

"Total emissions from transport are projected to be 34% above 1990 levels in 2010 [my emphasis]. This does not include rapidly increasing emissions from international air travel, which is not covered by Kyoto.

The Kyoto Protocol has not yet entered into force, and cannot do so unless and until one of the biggest polluters, Russia, ratifies it.

The US has said it will not ratify the treaty, leaving the EU as its most enthusiastic advocate among the industrialised countries.

If Europe, together and severally, does not make good its promises to cut emissions, the protocol's critics will understandably have a field day. "

You bet! But no further comment at this stage. Let's see how this all pans out. The politics are even more complex than the science! Philip needing coffee.

[New counter, June 19, 2006, with loss of some data]


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