Russia Approves New Climate Doctrine

27 October 2023

Russia Approves New Climate Doctrine

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree approving a new Climate Doctrine. The key goal of the document is to achieve carbon neutrality in Russia by 2060, which entails reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and its analogues in manufacturing activities to zero.

Strategies to achieve carbon neutrality require the establishment of a regulatory framework and tools that will help reduce direct emissions, the development of carbon capture technologies, and the creation of favourable conditions for investment in carbon negative projects.

One tool to encourage companies to reduce direct emissions is the creation of digital carbon trading platforms to reduce the carbon footprint of a person, organization, event, or even product. Certified emission reductions (carbon credits) constitute the proven results of a company’s climate change project, expressed in terms of greenhouse gas emissions that have been prevented or reduced. The company can offset these reductions against its own carbon footprint, transfer them, or sell them to other businesses.

“Climate change is one of the most serious challenges of the 21st century, which transcends scientific discussions and represents a complex problem encompassing environmental, economic, and social aspects of the sustainable development of Russia and the world as a whole,” Advisor to the Russian President Anton Kobyakov said.

In September 2023, Vladivostok hosted a unique event for the business events industry: Roscongress Foundation and the petrochemical company SIBUR agreed to transfer carbon units to the Eastern Economic Forum to completely offset the Forum’s carbon footprint. Thus, thanks to SIBUR’s climate projects, the EEF will become the largest carbon neutral economic forum in Russia with confirmed international verification.

Russia devotes significant attention to environmental conservation issues and meeting goals as part of international and national environmental and climate projects. The Roscongress Foundation supports the environmental and climate change agenda in its activities. In particular, it has been holding the Nevsky International Ecological Congress in St. Petersburg since 2008 and the Eco Altai: Thread of Nature International Forum in the Altai Republic since 2022. An international forum on tiger conservation was held as part of the Eastern Economic Forum in 2022. In addition, the world’s only international centre for the reproduction and conservation of rare species of large birds of prey has opened at the Kamchatka Falcon Centre in the Milkovsky District of the Kamchatka Territory with the support of the Roscongress Foundation. Finally, in 2023, Vladivostok hosted the Falcon Day International Forum, at which Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and the UAE adopted a framework declaration of intent for the conservation of the gyrfalcon population.

Russia plays a significant role in global efforts to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change and is an active participant in the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement of 12 December 2015, which aims to keep the increase in global average temperatures well below 2 degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial levels.

Russia Approves New Climate Doctrine

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