MOSCOW, June 7 (RIA Novosti) – One of the three groups at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, is unable to start its work because the sides have failed to agree on an issue about the rules of procedure put forward by Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
“It’s in everybody’s interest that the rules of the game are respected, but frankly, the Russians broke the rules first by pulling out of the Kyoto Protocol and by not taking any climate action even though they are a major emitter,” Kaisa Kosonen, senior political adviser from Greenpeace International, was quoted as saying by the Climate Action Network (CAN).
Russia remains a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, but although it participated in Kyoto's first round, it has not taken on new binding targets for the second commitment period.
The UN Climate Change Conference opened on Monday, and group meetings are being broadcast live on the website of the secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Russia, Belarus and Ukraine have put forward a joint proposal to include discussions on “procedural and legal issues” of the decision-making process on the group’s agenda. The proposal is linked to the 2012 conference in Doha, Qatar, where the final document was approved despite objections from the three states.
China and a group of more than 100 developing states, the so-called Group 77, objected to putting the proposed issue on the agenda. During the five days of negotiations, the sides failed to come to an agreement.
Environmental organizations accuse Russia of derailing the negotiation process with only five negotiating sessions remaining before the 2015 climate agreement is to be signed.
