participants discussed tightening environmental requirements in Asian markets
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Participants at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) this year discussed the prospects for changing logistics and tightening climate regulation more actively than before. The “turn to the east” makes it necessary, among other things, to develop port infrastructure and remove administrative barriers on congested transport routes, and changes in foreign markets – primarily Chinese – are forcing large manufacturers and exporters to prepare for the introduction of more stringent environmental requirements and competition, taking into account new parameters – the cost of emissions during production and its carbon footprint.
On the first day of the Eastern Economic Forum, which opened in Vladivostok, its participants discussed problems that are especially relevant for the Far Eastern region – the reorientation of logistics caused by the increase in commodity flows, the congestion of transport routes, as well as climate regulation, the tightening of which is feared by companies supplying products for export.
The head of Russian Railways, Oleg Belozerov, said that in the second half of last year, the volume of transportation to the east for the first time exceeded deliveries in the western direction: 81 million tons versus 76 million tons. To speed up the delivery of goods and simplify administrative procedures, the Federal Customs Service and the Russian Export Center proposed to digitize all accompanying documents (including waybills), making the turnover completely paperless. According to the acting head of customs Ruslan Davydov, his service will be able to completely get rid of paper in one to two years, this will require the integration of information systems on the “one-window” principle.
The desire to remove non-transport restrictions in transportation, however, runs into the problem of a shortage of personnel on the ground.
“Border points are small urban-type settlements, they need to recruit customs officers, border guards, veterinarians. There is competition between departments to get a qualified specialist, it is necessary to build housing, develop social infrastructure,” said Ruslan Davydov. It should be noted that the day before, the business discussed logistics issues directly on the territory of the port of Vladivostok – at a meeting of the new profile subcommittee of the RSPP (they talked about the prospects for transport corridors, transportation tariffs, the availability of equipment and technologies).
Along with logistics, exporters are concerned about the issue of climate regulation. The reduction in supply volumes to European Union countries introducing a border carbon tax does not alleviate its severity. Let us remind you that from October 2023 to the end of 2025, a transition period is being introduced, during which the EU will only require companies to submit reports, and from 2026 they will already be required to pay tax on the import of cement, electricity, fertilizers, aluminum, iron and steel (see “Kommersant” dated August 21)
At the same time, environmental regulation is also developing in countries outside the EU, in particular in China, and large Russian banks and manufacturers are already analyzing the impact of new regulations on Russian exports. According to Yulia Shabala, Deputy General Director for Sustainable Development and Corporate Affairs at Udokan Med, China plans to increase the share of renewable energy sources to 80%, while reducing the share of coal generation to 5% – this potentially reduces the competitiveness of Russian products, the carbon footprint of which will be higher, than other manufacturers. This forces us to think about the carbon footprint of domestic electricity generation, she adds.
At the same time, the climate, according to Elena Myakotnikova, director of the “Climate Initiatives and Carbon Regulation” function at SIBUR, remains outside the sanctions – companies can undergo verification by European auditors, and reporting under the new regulation requires reducing their carbon footprint.
So far, Asian buyers have not made high “climate” demands on Russian exporters, but this will not last long, concluded participants in the WEF profile session. If the situation changes, mutual recognition of carbon units will be required, explained the head of the Ministry of Economy, Maxim Reshetnikov. The Russian side expects that this process is possible within the framework of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) and BRICS (the Sberbank climate session was devoted, in particular, to this issue). “The topics of climate and energy transition also concern access to deposits of critical resources,” admitted Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk, noting that the introduction of such regulation should not become a barrier within the EAEU.
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