Moscow refusing to sign up to any new Kyoto pact

Russia plans to set itself a binding 2020 goal for carbon emissions, a top climate change official said on Wednesday- the only problem is it would allow them to rise, Reuters reported. Russia's emissions plunged after the collapse of Soviet-era smokestack industries to 2.21 billion tonnes in 2010, or 34 percent below 1990 levels, according to the latest data available from the nation's official statistics. However, it is still the world's fourth biggest emitter of greenhouse gases behind China, the United States and India. Alexander Bedritsky, Russia's special envoy for climate change and advisor to President Vladimir Putin, told a news conference on the sidelines of climate talks in Qatar's capital, Doha, that Moscow had begun work on establishing a legally binding target. The goal would be in the range of 15-25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, he said. That would allow a rise from current levels. He did not specify when it would be signed into law.