PowerPoint Presentation - Houghton, 2009, p 5.

Russia’s increasingly passive role in international climate policy

•Ratification of Kyoto

•Political factors (WTO) without so far very meaningful policy changes

•7 year wait before Russia signed Kyoto Protocol

–trading carbon credits

–Siberian forest for carbon sequestration

•Poznan Conference of Parties (COP Dec. 2008)

–Russia asserted 25-40% reduction in CO2 emissions in 2020 compared to 1990 “unreasonable”

–asserted binding commitments must be interpreted as both “flexible, and “non-enforceable, non-punitive”

•Some early hopeful signs under Medvedev

–June 2009 Medvedev proposed Russia’s target as 10-15% below 1990 levels

–Dec. 2009 Medvedev increased reduction target to 20-25%

•Resent Russian retreat

–Putin words set of tone of retreat and Russian backtracking since signing Kyoto.

Upshot - Russia seems to imply that the problems of reducing GHGs is really a Chinese and American problem.