Russian Ministry of Economic Development will promote the removal of low-carbon technologies from sanctions

Photo by: heckepics / iStock

Russia is preparing to participate in the UN climate change conference COP27 to be held in Egypt from 6 to 18 November 2022. There, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development plans to raise the issue of low-carbon technologies being removed from sanctions, Ilya Torosov, first deputy head of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, told the ESG RBC 2022 congress.

“COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh is literally a month away. We are getting ready for it. I do not want to make predictions, but we will promote technological neutrality of the countries, access to technologies from a low-carbon perspective, and removal of sanctions. Whether we succeed this year or in a year, but we are going and we will defend our position and work,” Torosov said.

He noted that the climate agenda is becoming hostage to the current situation, but the plan for Russia’s low-carbon transition remains in place. Recall that Russia aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. The first region to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions by the end of 2025 is the Sakhalin region.

Earlier, UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a statement that the upcoming UN conference in Egypt will be “as big as the climate change we are witnessing around the world”. According to him, the collective commitments made by the G20 countries have to date been insufficiently implemented and long overdue, and political developments have pushed the climate agenda to the back burner.

“The time is ripe for a radical compromise at a quantum level between developed and developing economies. The world cannot wait,” Guterres said.

Cover photo: BING-JHEN HONG / iStock