Consultations between representatives of Russian and Canadian governmental authorities on the Kyoto Protocol implementation were held in the Russian Ministry for Economic Development and Trade on April 28-29, 2005. The consultations were arranged for and held by the Department for Property and Land Relations and Land Use Economics of the Ministry.   

Representatives of the Canadian Foreign Ministry,  Canadian Environmental Ministry, Canadian Natural Resources Ministry and the Canadian Embassy in Moscow  attended the meeting from the Canadian side.  Representatives of the Department for Property and Land Relations and Land Use Economics and the Department for Foreign Economic Relations of the Russian Ministry for Economic Development and Trade, of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russian Natural Resources Ministry, Russian Agency for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, and the Russian Statistics Committee participated in the consultations from the Russian side.

Mr. V.V. Gavrilov, Deputy Head of the Department for Property and Land Relations and Land Use Economics, noted in his introductory speech the significance of the meeting between Russian and Canadian experts immediately after Russia’s ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and its entry into force, especially taking into account economic  opportunities and prospects of developing the Russo-Canadian cooperation in implementation of “flexibility facilities” of the Kyoto Protocol.

Ms. Sushma Gera, Head of the Energy and Climate Department of the Canadian Foreign Ministry,  also pointed to  relevancy of bilateral contacts in this field, taking into account Canada’s interest in carrying out “joint-implementation” projects in Russia.

Russian participants informed their Canadian counterparts of the progress achieved in implementation of the Comprehensive Action Plan for the Kyoto Protocol Implementation in the Russian Federation, which was approved of by the Russian Government on February 24, 2005.  In addition, the meeting discussed Russia’s approaches to carrying out of “joint-implementation” projects, to establishing the “target environmental investments” (TEI) pattern that envisages spending of income from quotas trade on projects for  reducing greenhouse gas emissions  and to secure fulfillment of the  eligibility criteria for participation in the Kyoto Protocol procedures.

Canadian participants provided information on the national policy and efforts aimed at implementation of the Kyoto Protocol in Canada as well as on possibilities of carrying out of “joint-implementation” projects in Russia. Canadian representatives backed up the TEI approach and put forward a proposal for possible arrangement of a workshop with participation of the Russian and Canadian business community.