Russian companies uneven on environmental adaptation

Significance

The global shift towards decarbonisation threatens Russian exports and public revenue, and the more aware mining and other companies are paying greater attention to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. A warming climate and increasingly frequent natural disasters raise costs and liabilities for companies and the state, while pollution will undermine public health and life expectancy.

Impacts

• Government ministries must submit plans to adapt to climate change by December for inclusion in the 2022-24 budget.
• Climate change offers an area for political collaboration with the United States.
• Russia will push for recognition of its forest absorption capacity and of nuclear energy as 'green'.
• Moscow will promote its plentiful natural gas reserves as the optimum transition-period fuel source.
• Several green projects will undergo pilot testing next year, including hydrogen production and an emissions trading scheme in Sakhalin.