Events/Comments

In the report, RSEU experts and partners present the information on the status and the problems of the nuclear industry in Russia, as well as the activities of Rosatom, the nuclear state-owned corporation, in 2022. The report is in Russian and a summary in English is available at the end of the report. 

The path to achieving carbon neutrality in the context of sanctions is becoming more difficult and more expensive for Russia. Vnesheconombank Institute of Research and Expertise prepared a report “Achieving Carbon Neutrality in Russia No Later than 2060”.

Intentions of countries to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050-2060 are not supported by concrete actions. The world is on a trajectory of a global temperature increase of 3-3.5⁰C by the end of the century –  it does not meet the goals of the Paris Agreement (PA).

Russian NGOs call on the countries participating in the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC to act urgently to phase out for energy purposes by 2030, to reduce sufficiently use of other fossil fuel, to give priority to low-carbon development measures namely the use of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency. Also NGOs call for actions for urgent climate adaptation.

By 2035, the number of trips in Russia should increase, and travel time should decrease. Transport is expected to become safer and more convenient. Emissions of harmful substances and greenhouse gases from transport should decrease. This is planned by the Transport Strategy of the Russian Federation until 2035.

Insufficient efforts by all countries to implement the Paris Agreement resulted in the loss of the best chance to limit global warming by 1.5°C. Experts are now calculating scenarios in which warming limits are temporarily exceeded. However, most of the technologies that bring the global mean temperature down past its peak value are not technologically ready. In addition, their widespread use may hinder achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The new REN21 report on global development of renewables in 2021 shows successes of renewable energy in some areas. However, to reach the average milestones set by major net zero scenarios, annual renewable power additions must triple. The Low-Carbon Development Strategy of the Russian Federation emphasizes that in order to implement an intensive scenario for reducing emissions, the country needs to increase generation based on renewables.

Transport makes a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions. Developed technical solutions for decarbonisation of all types of transport are existing. The timely transport decarbonisation requires urgent and strong action: reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in transport and moving to carbon-neutral vehicles by 2050.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has published its new report on global climate. According to the report, the four key climate change indicators – greenhouse gas concentrations, sea level rise, ocean heat and ocean acidification – set new records in 2021. This is yet another clear sign that human activities are causing planetary scale changes on land, in the ocean, and in the atmosphere, with harmful and long-lasting ramifications for sustainable development and ecosystems.

Regions of Russia will begin to adapt to climate change. The first territory to approve a regional climate adaptation plan was the Kursk region, followed by the Nizhny Novgorod region. Representatives of public environmental organizations believe that the need to adapt regions to climate change is becoming more urgent every day, but point to the lack of development of documents and plans.

To cope with the climate crisis, the world must achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. This requires a significant transformation of all sectors of human activity, primarily energy. Russia is well placed to meet this challenge.