Page 28 - bne magazine November 2021_20211104 uzbekistan risding

28 I Companies & Markets bne November 2021
bne:Green
Russia to become carbon neutral by 2060
Ben Aris in Berlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin set the goal of carbon neutrality by 2060 during comments in his speech at the plenary session of Russia’s Energy Week on October 13.
"Russia in practice will strive for carbon neutrality of its economy," he told delegates. "And we set a benchmark for this – no later than 2060."
"The planet needs informed, responsible actions by all market participants – both producers and consumers – focused on the long term, in the interests of the sustainable development of all our countries," Putin said.
"Russia is ready for such constructive and close co-operation," he added, as cited by the Moscow Times.
Putin’s announcement brings to an end considerable confusion and contradictory statements coming out of the Kremlin in recent months on just how tough the Kremlin was going to be in the climate fight, as bne IntelliNews has been reporting.
Russia has introduced a new long-term energy strategy and is taking the problem of climate change increasingly seriously after the country was plagued by floods and massive forest fires this summer. The temperatures are rising two and half times faster in Russia, the president noted, and even faster in the Arctic. As bne IntelliNews reported, Russia’s permafrost is melting and could do a trillion dollars of damage to cities and energy infrastructure in those regions that cover a third of the country’s territory.
The new energy strategy takes account of the shift towards renewable energy and “the role of oil and coal will decrease,” Putin observed.
Criticised for being slow to grasp the nettle, Russia set itself easy targets after it adopted the Paris Accords in 2019, as
bne IntelliNews reported in an overview of Russia’s emissions, and plans to reduce them.
With abundant oil and gas reserves Russia has been slow to invest into renewable energy. Moreover, with abundant nuclear and hydropower resources, neither of which emit CO2, there has been even less interest in investing into wind and solar.
www.bne.eu
After setting itself easy emission reductions goals, Russian President Vladimir Putin has upped the game during an address at Russia's Energy Week saying Russia would become carbon-neutral by 2060.
But the government ratcheted up its game in June when Putin ordered it to come up with plans to emit less CO2 than the Europe by 2050, when the EU aims to become carbon-neutral under its Green Deal.
Putin’s call to become carbon neutral by 2060 is new, as
the previous plans were for Russia’s emissions to increase modestly before dropping to net zero some 80 years from now, according to Katie Ross at the World Resources Institute,
as cited by the Moscow Times.
And Russia’s upping its game is important for the global drive to contain emissions growth. Analysis by climate science website Carbon Brief named Russia as one of the countries most responsible for global warming. The research shows that Russia has contributed 6.9% of the world’s CO2 emissions since 1850. When pre-industrial emissions are factored in, that makes Russia the third-biggest producer of CO2 historically, behind the US and China.
Putin’s comments represent a significant hardening of Russia’s position on emissions, as only a week ago the Ministry of Economy was flip-flopping on neutrality and said it was not under consideration.
As part of the new plan the share of renewables is set to increase greatly. Part of the plan is also to reduce emissions through absorbing CO2 by doubling the area of forest density through planting. Russia is already home to the world’s biggest forests.
The Paris Accords suggest that countries cut CO2 emissions by 30% from the levels of 2005. In Russia's case it was emitting 1,734mn tonnes of CO2 emissions per year (mtCO2/yr) in 2005, however, the Kremlin has set 1990 as the base when it was emitting 2,397 mtCO2/yr – a much higher bar and way above what Russia is emitting today.
A 30% reduction from the 1990 level would allow Russia to produce 1,678 mtCO2/yr, which is only slightly less than the 1,765 mtCO2/yr it was producing in 2017. However, if 2005 were set as the benchmark year then Russia would have to reduce its CO2 emissions by a third from the current levels, or by a hefty 550 mtCO2/yr.