Russia Rules Against Carbon Emission Penalties

As reported in an October 17 article in The Moscow Times, “Russia Rejects Climate Change Plan After Business Uproar,” the Russian government has reversed policy and acted to block proposed “climate change” legislation which would have imposed on Russia the same type of anti-industrial “green” insanity that is now prevalent throughout most of the European Union membership. The climate change legislation would have imposed mandatory quotas on carbon emissions for Russia’s largest companies, penalties for the biggest “polluters,” and established a new national carbon trading system. This has now all been scrapped.

Originally, the Russian government proposed introducing climate legislation in two phases. The first was to have been a five-year stock-taking exercise to measure company-level emissions and determine appropriate quotas for reducing emissions. After that, the mandatory penalties cited above would have been imposed, together with the carbon trading scheme. This second, punitive stage has now been killed. The Moscow Times reported,

Plans for quotas on carbon emissions at Russia’s largest companies, a new national carbon trading system and penalties for the biggest [greenhouse gas] polluters have now been scrapped.

Instead, Russia will only go ahead with proposals to measure and collect data on emissions as part of a five-year green audit.

The campaign against a stricter package of measures was led by the influential Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP)—an organization that acts as the voice for many of Russia’s large industries and manufacturing concerns. The new laws were set to be introduced as part of Russia’s ratification of the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement. Now, that will not happen.