Russian presidential [economic] advisor Andrey Illarionov today called the
statement by British scientists on global warming "a falsification".
Great Britain is using this information, he said at a news conference, in order
to raise the issue of global warming at the G-8 summit which is to be held in
the summer. Illarionov is convinced this is a political decision.
The presidential aide said that at a seminar on global warming which ended a few
days ago in Exeter British scientists claimed that two degrees was a critical
level for climate change. If we were to accept this, we would have to reduce
global emissions of carbon dioxide by 50-60 per cent on the 1990 level.
For Russia and former Soviet republics, this would mean reducing emissions by
over 30 per cent in the near future and by 90 per cent by 2050. "To achieve
this, economic activity in Russia would have to be cut by 70-80 per cent, and
GDP (in Russia and former Soviet republics) would have to be cut by half or two
thirds by 2050," Illarionov said.
["The G-8 economic forum in Davos fell victim to censorship" by Great Britain,
which "influenced the drawing up of the programme for the conference on climate
change", ITAR-TASS, in a report at1034 gmt, quoted Illarionov as saying at the
news conference today.
"The organizers of the current forum in Davos invited me to take part in a
number of sessions, but on 5 January, after long correspondence and a number of
personal meetings, I received a letter saying it would not be possible for me to
take part in the session on climate change," Illarionov said. He said "the
organizers of the forum explained this, saying that Great Britain was part of
the G-8 and that it was not its plan to organize discussion of this topic".
In a further report at 1208 gmt, ITAR-TASS quoted him calling the Kyoto Protocol
"a sect ideology which is being imposed on the world using totalitarian methods"
and expressing the fear that this "ideology" will have more and more influence"
in the next few years. The protocol "has nothing to do with ecology", he said.
He also said that "he had not succeeded in pushing through decisions relating to
the Kyoto Protocol which coincide with Russia's interests ".]