Moscow
Russia’s Academy of Scientists this week recommended against ratifying the Kyoto environmental accord, saying the treaty had “no scientific foundation.” The scientists concluded that keeping Russian emissions of greenhouse gases below 1990 levels, as the treaty requires, would cripple the economy and do little for the environment. The treaty won’t go into effect until countries responsible for 55 percent of world emission levels ratify it. Since the top polluter, the U.S., has already pulled out, Russia, with the next-largest volume of emissions, will determine the treaty’s fate. President Vladimir Putin, who will ultimately decide whether to follow the academy’s advice, has been tilting away from Kyoto in recent months. His top economic advisor, Andrei Illarionov, recently called Kyoto a “global Auschwitz,” saying its “main aim is to strangle economic growth in countries that accept its requirements.”
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