The President of the Russian Federation supports the scientific efforts
that are underway at the conference and acknowledges the numerous voices
calling Russia to ratify. However, he stresses that the Kyoto Protocol is
still being researched by the Russian government and a decision is not
evident yet. Indeed, Greenpeace had a large banner floated by several
colourful balloons outside the conference centre encouraging Putin to
ratify the protocol. The environment ministers of France, Canada and Norway
also called for this action in their speeches. Joke Waller-Hunter showed
the most courage by directly telling Putin of her disappointment in his
inaction. Interestingly, the US refusal to ratify Kyoto was not mentioned
in the welcoming speeches. Norway’s minister of Environment mentioned that
Kyoto was only the first step and much more action is required from all
industrialized countries.