The head of the RSSP urged to revise the strategy to combat climate change in the face of sanctions

President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSSP) Alexander Shokhin said that Russia’s approaches to combating climate change need to be revised in order to move away from Western guidelines. According to him, in addition to this, it is necessary to reconsider the goals for achieving carbon neutrality.

Alexander Shokhin said that after February 24, Russian authorities and entrepreneurs discussed the possibility of withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement in order to postpone this agenda indefinitely.

“However, both the relevant state authorities and business have come to the conclusion that it is by no means possible to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, from international programs and projects. It is important to continue cooperation, since climate change is a common problem for mankind, here our interest in the global agenda remains,” said Alexander Shokhin during the forum “Russia’s Climate Policy in Changing Conditions: New Priorities and Opportunities” (quoted from RBC).

The head of the RSSP drew attention to the fact that climate cooperation is hampered by geopolitical restrictions. So, he noted that under the sanctions, decarbonization will cost Russian companies more, since access to foreign technologies is limited. In this regard, he called for finalizing the draft operational plan for the implementation of the Strategy for the socio-economic development of the Russian Federation with low greenhouse gas emissions until 2050. Mr. Shokhin argues that now Russia needs to focus on cooperation with partners, including the BRICS countries.

The plan for the implementation of the low-carbon development strategy of Russia was prepared by the Ministry of Economic Development in February 2022. In particular, by 2030 it is planned to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions to 1.524 billion tons. By 2050, they are planned to be reduced to 0.6 billion tons, and by 2060 they will become carbon neutral.

The Paris climate agreement, in which Russia participates, was signed in 2016. Its goal is to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions as well as limit the increase in global temperatures. The parties to the agreement must reduce greenhouse gas emissions and work to adapt to the effects of climate change.

Lusine Balasyan