Ukraine regained the right to participate in international trading of greenhouse gas emission quotas, which was suspended last year, the country’s National Environmental Investment Agency reported on its website.
The Kyoto Protocol Compliance Committee suspended Ukraine’s participation international emissions quota trading on October 12, 2011, due to a discrepancy between the national system of greenhouse gas emissions accounting and the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol.
The Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was first negotiated in 1997 with the goal of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. The protocol provides two project mechanisms to reduce emissions, as well as international trading. To participate in these mechanisms parties must submit an annual report on the rules defined by international agreement.
Ukrainian former Prime Minsiter Yulia Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison in October 2011 on charges of abusing her authority by pushing through a gas deal with Russia in 2009. Other charges Tymoshenko faces include the misuse of funds received from the sale of greenhouse gas discharge quotas under the Kyoto Protocol, the misappropriation of funds to purchase ambulances, and illegal operations of the United Energy Systems of Ukraine (UESU) company in the late 1990s when Tymoshenko was its head.
