FURTHER economic globalisation could be the price to pay for reducing global warming. On 21 May, Russian president Vladimir Putin gave his strongest hint yet that Russia would sign up to the Kyoto protocol on climate change if granted membership of the World Trade Organization.
Shortly after the European Union announced that it would now support Russia joining the WTO, Putin promised to 鈥渁ccelerate our efforts to ratify the protocol鈥�. He stopped short of giving a timetable, however. Russia hopes to join the WTO next year but still needs backing from the US and China.
Russia accounts for 17 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions from the developed world. Under the complex Kyoto rules, Russian ratification would trigger the protocol coming into effect, setting emissions limits for most developed nations.
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