Russia is now at odds with China, its previously reported ally, after the latter joined the United States in a quick ratification of the global agreement made in Paris, France, to impede climate change.
A senior official told Reuters on Wednesday that Moscow wants to have a clear set of rules first before signing the pact for the 2015 Paris Agreement, where it has been agreed that the world needs a shift from the traditional use of fossil fuels.
As the top gas emitters in the world, China and the U.S. immediately agreed on the plan even before the rules have been set, but Russia, as the third biggest greenhouse gas emitter, is not rushing into it.
Russia's Argument
"The core issue to create the landscape conducive to joining is the development of the book of rules," Russia's chief climate negotiator Oleg Shamanov told Reuters.
Shamanov noted that Russia does not want to rush into these things to avoid a similar issue as that of the United Nation's 1997 Kyoto Protocol that requires 40 industrialized countries to reduce emissions.
"We are hoping that it can be much faster this time," he added, referring to the lengthy five-year production of the rules.
While the Agreement can still get activated even without Russia's signature, Reuters said that the Paris Agreement still needs "at least 55 nations representing 55 percent of global greenhouse gases to gain legal force."
A report from The Guardian in Dec. 2015 noted how Russia's leader Vladimir Putin agreed to not get in the way of the approval of the Paris Agreement and even gave his personal assurance to German Chancellor Angela Merkel that no Russian negotiator will block the agreement that is supported by other countries.
According to the report, Putin sees the Paris Agreement as a great advantage for Russia since it would require more countries to use lower-carbon fuel instead of coal and oil, something that the country is abundant with.
Why the Rush
According to Reuters, the countries appear to be rushing into the ratification of the Paris Agreement because of some foreseen forces that could impede its implementation.
The outlet cited U.S. Presidential frontrunner Donald Trump as one of them.
Apparently, Trump expressed his intention to re-negotiate the pact when he becomes president of the United States.
"I will be looking at that very, very seriously, and at a minimum I will be renegotiating those agreements, at a minimum," he told Reuters early in May. "And at a maximum I may do something else. But those agreements are one-sided agreements and they are bad for the United States."
While some experts cited by Triple Pundit believe that Trump could not derail the pact, the current U.S. administration and other nations are not taking any chances and move to rapidly ratify the agreement.