Russians say 'nyet' to Kyoto pact

MOSCOW — A senior Kremlin official declared on Tuesday that Russia would not ratify the international treaty requiring cuts in the emissions of gases linked to global warming, delivering what could be a fatal blow to years of diplomatic efforts.

The official, Andrei Illarionov, said in remarks to reporters and in a subsequent interview that President Vladimir Putin had told a group of European businessmen that the treaty, known as the Kyoto Protocol, ran counter to Russia's national interests.

"We shall not ratify," said Illarionov, the senior Kremlin adviser on economic affairs and an outspoken critic of the treaty, apparently ending more than a year of uncertainty about Russia's position.

The treaty, completed in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997 after two years of intense diplomatic wrangling, would require major industrialized countries to reduce gas emissions in 2012 by 5.2 percent from levels measured in 1990. While 120 countries have ratified the treaty, it can take effect only when approved by enough countries to account for 55 percent of 1990 emissions from the industrialized world. Without Russia and the United States, the 55 percent threshhold cannot be met.

With the Bush administration having previously rejected the pact, Russia essentially held a veto over the treaty's enactment. Barring a reversal by Russia, the treaty now appears all but dead, leaving uncertain the future of international cooperation on the question of global warming.

Russian officials had increasingly voiced concerns about the economic costs of curtailing such emissions, which come mainly from burning fossil fuels. They had also questioned whether the warming is caused by human activities and, even if it is, whether it poses any great risks.

"A number of questions have been raised about the link between carbon dioxide and climate change, which do not appear convincing," Illarionov said in the interview. "And clearly it sets very serious brakes on economic growth, which do not look justified."

Russia has also complained that major polluters like China and India are not even bound by the treaty, giving them an unfair economic advantage. But mostly, experts say, Russia is bothered by its declining financial return from joining the treaty.

Since the collapse of Soviet-era industry, Russia's emission of gases has fallen by an estimated 30 percent, meaning it has already far exceeded its required reductions.