Putin stressed that any action must be balanced with the need to ensure strong economic development.
Moscow:
President Vladimir Putin signed a decree ordering the Russian government to work to respect the 2015 Paris Agreement to tackle climate change, but stressed that any action must be balanced with the need to ensure strong economic development.
Russia, the world‘s fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has already signaled its acceptance of the deal even as environmentalists criticized Moscow for avoiding mandatory emissions targets for companies with fines.
In a decree issued Wednesday, a public holiday in Russia, Putin formally ordered the government to work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 to as much as 30% below 1990 emission levels.
That, Putin said, would mean harnessing the capacity of forests and other ecosystems to absorb these gases.
Putin’s order came with a big caveat. He said any action to reduce emissions must take into account the need to ensure stable and balanced socio-economic development, and ordered the government to develop and ratify a socio-economic strategy until 2050 taking into account the reduction in emissions.
An earlier draft of such a strategy drew criticism from green groups for allowing emissions to rise before falling.
Climate change is a major challenge for Russia, whose economy relies heavily on oil and gas production, as well as mining. Part of this infrastructure is built on permafrost, which is vulnerable to rising temperatures.
Putin, who questioned whether human activity is the only driver of global warming, has presented himself as an advocate for the environment.
He has praised the Paris Pact in the past, while saying that it would force countries to modernize the industry, which would likely cost large companies billions of dollars and lead to job losses, a possibility. which he said had to be properly planned.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
