Japanese Mitsubishi Corp and Nippon Oil have received rights for 290,000 tones of CO2 emission from a joint Kyoto project with Russian Gazprom Neft, the Japanese companies said in a statement.
This became the first time when Russia awards its quotas on greenhouse gas emissions generated from implementation of the joint implementation project (JI), emission reduction project under the Kyoto Protocol, to recover and utilize flare gas from the Yety Purovskoe Oilfield in the Russian Federation's Yamal Nenets district.
Before the project flare gas from the field was burned off, when currently it is re-utilized as gas and other fuel within Russia. The JI let to reduce approximately 290,000 tons in CO2 emissions.
The Kyoto Protocol is a legally binding agreement restricting carbon emissions that expires in 2012. A new global climate deal is needed to continue efforts beyond 2012.
Russia opposes the renewal of the Kyoto protocol and will not sign an extension to the climate treaty as there had been "no basic changes in the negotiating process," Russian envoy Alexander Bedritsky said in December 2010.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev previously said the country would pull out of the Kyoto agreement if a compromise could not be found concerning the reduction of carbon emissions.
Russia's announcement follows a statement from Japan that it would not sign an extension of Kyoto. Canada is also expected to oppose extending the Kyoto agreement.
Russia believes that climate change should be tackled by modern technology, not cuts in carbon emissions stipulated by the Kyoto Protocol.
Medvedev earlier said that while the 2009 Copenhagen Summit was a disappointment, Russia was determined to push forward strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, saying the country could then meet its target of a 25% cut by 2020.
The G20 leaders failed to reach an agreement at the last UN climate summit in December 2009, largely as a result of China's reluctance to agree to binding commitments.
China has consistently showed reluctance to commit to slashing greenhouse emissions, despite being the world's largest emitter. In light of the disagreements, this year's summit aims to reach less ambitious goals than last year's.
MOSCOW, January 7 (RIA Novosti)
