During today’s meeting, the government approved the procedure for setting the minimal price for the sale of greenhouse gas quotas within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol requirements.

This announcement was made by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko during the press conference following today’s Cabinet meeting.

In the Premier’s opinion, this government resolution will eliminate the possibility of abuses connected with the understatement of the value of quotas for gas emissions.

Yulia Tymoshenko explained that experts from several ministries were involved in calculating the market value for quotas for greenhouse gas emissions.

On August 11, 1997, Ukraine joined the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. On March 15, 1999, Ukraine signed the Kyoto Protocol, and on February 4, 2004, the Verkhovna Rada ratified it. These international agreements have become a component of Ukrainian national legislation.

The Kyoto Protocol went into effect on February 16, 2005.

The Kyoto Protocol requires countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions below levels specified for each of them in the Treaty. These targets must be met within a five-year time frame between 2008 and 2012, and add up to a total cut in greenhouse gas emissions of at least 5% against the baseline of 1990.

On November 5, 2007, Ukraine joined the International Transaction Log and passed the test of its National Register, thus removing the final barrier to obtaining the right to participate in the Kyoto Protocol mechanisms.

Material from UNIAN