How the war changed Russia’s climate agenda

The dependence on imported equipment and technologies needed to reduce carbon emissions is 55% in the oil sector, 45% in the coal sector and 31% in the power sector, according to the calculations published by the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) in November. As a result, the future of some Russian projects that depended on cooperation with the West is now in doubt. For example, the withdrawal of the Finnish state-owned energy company Fortum from the Russian market has put a damper on plans to build wind farms in the country.  Mikhail Korostikov, who worked on climate issues for Russia’s state development corporation VEB.RF, and is now a senior analyst at the UK-based Climate Bonds Initiative, said the environment has been the obvious casualty of the breakdown in economic relations between Russia and the West.     Russia has few pragmatic reasons to be at the forefront of climate initiatives, he explained: “The majority of the country’s population lives in areas not severely affected by global warming, while its economy depends on the export of fossil fuels.” But the European Union’s carbon border tax initiative, which before the Ukraine war was expected to hit Russia the hardest after its scheduled introduction in 2026, forced Moscow to take the issue of climate change seriously “for the first time in its history”, as inaction would threaten the competitiveness of Russian companies, Korostikov said.The EU initiative would mean manufacturers outside the bloc would face extra levies in proportion to the carbon dioxide they emit, with Russian iron, steel, aluminium and fertiliser suppliers being the main targets.Amid this pressure to decarbonise, Russia took efforts to develop platforms for reducing its carbon footprint, similar to those that exist in Western countries, Korostikov recalled.  One important step in this direction was the development by VEB.RF of the criteria to determine whether certain products or firms qualify as environmentally friendly, making it easier for them to attract investors and perks from the state.