Russian Government Responds to Industrialists, Opts Out of Climate Protocol

Oct. 18, 2019 (EIRNS)—The Russian government has drastically watered down its new package of climate change legislation after push-back from the country’s leading businesses, Kommersant business daily reported yesterday, according to Moscow Times.

Plans for quotas on carbon emissions at Russia’s largest companies, a new national carbon trading system and penalties for the biggest so-called “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), one of the main lobbying groups for Russia’s largest businesses. The new laws were set to be introduced as part of Russia’s ratification of the Paris Climate Agreement. RSPP has successfully killed off the entire second phase, including plans to set individual company quotas or targets, arguing that the government should await the results of the climate audit before introducing new laws and regulations to hold firms accountable for their emissions.