Duma Guts Russia's Climate Draft: No Cap-And-Trade, No Carbon Taxes, No Funding
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Speaking on 17 October at an environmental forum, RSPP chair Alexander Shokhin objected to climate regulations, such as cap and trade, carbon taxes or a fund for carbon-cutting projects, stressing that Russia had already “fulfilled [its] obligations to reduce to the level of 70-75% (greenhouse gas emissions) from 1990”. Head of Suek Andrey Melnichenko struck a similar tone at the St-Petersburg business summit in June, stressing that “Russia has already done a lot of work to achieve the goals set by the Paris Agreement”. “We are an environmental donor to the planet, because of the large number of forests, rather than the source of emissions… I think we will not have to make global efforts in this direction.”
The 1990 baseline for Russia’s climate target predates the collapse of the Soviet Union and its vast industries, making it an underwhelming target. In fact, the world’s fourth largest polluter could see its emissions rise and yet still meet its current Paris pledge, according to Climate Action Tracker.
Mikhael Yulkin, chair of the Ecological Investment Centre, said fossil fuel lobbying had not only influenced business and government fora, but shaped national media coverage, which was “negative” towards the proposed bill. Melnichenko “launched a massive anti-climate campaign in the media and uses every chance to attack the Paris Agreement and the whole concept that anthropogenic climate change can be mitigated by emission reduction”, Yulkin told Climate Home News. “Now he attacks greenhouse gas regulation and even obligatory greenhouse gas accounting and reporting.”
This culminated in a media backlash against Greta Thunberg’s speech at the UN climate summit convened by Antonio Guterres. The days following her speech saw an infamous 2017 article denying man-made climate change by oceanographer Alexander Gorodnitsky go viral. “Russian lobbyists have successfully opposed cap and trade carbon pricing,” Vladimir Chuprov, a climate campaigner for Greenpeace, told CHN. “The only conclusion we can draw is: in Russia the industry does not want to convert to green technologies.”
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https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/10/25/russian-climate-law-gutted-industry-intervention/
