Russian-German environment talks in Moscow
The Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Environment Ministry, Simone Probst, called upon Russia to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. On the occasion of German-Russian environment talks Simone Probst said: "Russia's signature is of crucial importance, because it is decisive for the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol. The economic benefits of the Protocol can only be used once it has entered into force."
The Kyoto Protocol stipulates that in addition to the national measures for the reduction of greenhouse gases the reduction obligations can also be met by means of project-related mechanisms. A developed country can be credited for the climate protection measures it takes in another country. These mechanisms can, however, be only be made use of after the Kyoto Protocol has entered into force. This is an important incentive to ratify the Kyoto Protocol also for Russia. Germany and Russia are preparing joint projects that are scheduled to be used in 2008. One of the planned projects is a pilot project of the Ruhrgas company reducing the high energy need for the transport of natural gas through the piping system of the Russian Gazprom corporation and thus preventing CO2 emissions. There is a lot of potential for climate protection in Russia in the field of energy use from coal, oil and gas.
Since 2000, the Federal Environment Ministry has supported the setting up of regional monitoring centres for the collection and evaluation of emission data from trade and industry and the public authorities in the south Russian regions of Astrakhan and Krasnodar.
During the two-day Russian-German consultations, bilateral cooperation projects of a volume of more than Euro 1 million were adopted. In addition to climate protection, these projects for the 2004-2005 period comprise sustainable development, handling genetically modified products and international cooperation in environment policy.
The Federal Environment Ministry has already supported more than 60 bilateral projects in the context of German-Russian environmental cooperation and provided more than Euro 7.5 million.