Russian President Vladimir Putin urges world leaders to fight together to save forests
The global climate agenda must adjust the priorities imposed on the United States. Reducing the rate of climate change on the planet will not only allow technological re-equipment, but also the preservation of forests. According to URARU experts, Russian President Vladimir Putin conveyed this idea to world leaders attending the United Nations Climate Summit in Glasgow. Russia has every chance of becoming the leader of this new agenda, experts say.
Vladimir Putin sent a video message to participants of the special meeting on forest management and land use, which is being held in Glasgow as part of the United Nations Climate Summit. He noted that “the preservation of forests and other natural ecosystems is one of the key elements of international efforts to solve the problem of global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions”. “Russia relies on the unique resource of our forest ecosystems, their significant potential for absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. After all, about 20% of all the world’s forests are found in our country, ”the president said.
Russia insists that the absorptive power of forests must be taken into account and used to improve carbon neutrality
Photo: Denis Morgunov © URA.RU
Putin said steps are being taken in Russia to preserve forests, fight illegal logging and forest fires, and reforest. Budgetary expenditure for these purposes is “constantly” increased. He said Russia supports the draft declaration on forests and land use, which will be adopted at the Climate Summit. “We hope that its implementation will stimulate a closer partnership among all states interested in forest conservation. This will undoubtedly serve to achieve the objectives of the Paris agreement to reduce the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, ”said Putin.
The Russian president had mentioned the role of forests in the fight for the climate two days earlier at the G20 summit in Rome. He noted that Russian forests have a great “absorption potential” of greenhouse gases, and these are “colossal opportunities”. This is reflected in the draft low-carbon development strategy of the Russian Federation until 2050. Its baseline scenario provides for “the full provision of the reproduction balance of forests, the extension of their protection zone and a significant reduction in clear cuts “. According to the developers’ forecasts, this will lead to a decrease in the carbon intensity of Russia’s GDP from the 2017 level of 9% by 2030 and 48% by 2050.
At the same time, the West does not agree with the assessments of the climate impact of forests, given by Russian experts. National experts estimate the absorption capacity of the country’s forests at 1 billion tons per year, Western experts – at 300 million tons. Russia will have to undergo an international scrutiny to prove that “the absorption is greater,” said Ruslan Edelgeriev, the president’s special envoy for climate issues, in an interview with RBC.
Experts believe that Vladimir Putin has applied for the leading position of Russia in the field of forestry and the use of its benefits to improve the planet’s climate.
Photo: Razmik Zakaryan © URA.RU
According to Vladimir Vasiliev, chief researcher at the Institute of the United States and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, it is no coincidence that Putin constantly promotes the topic of forests. In fact, it “reorients the global environmental agenda”. “This is a very competent and subtle move by Putin. The point is that the United States is demanding a change in industrial policy – a shift to ‘green technologies’, waste-free production. These changes are painful for many countries. and very costly economically. America can afford much more in this direction than other countries, and benefits from it, declaring its leadership on the climate agenda. But forests are pure environmental policy. Putin has chosen the right time: the problem of forests worries both Europe and Latin America ”, noted the expert.
Vasiliev believes that Putin has shown world leaders that forestry is “the central issue in the climate agenda and in the struggle to preserve the quality of the environment”. “The idea of a polycentric world is also manifested in environmental policy.
The United States saw itself as a hegemony on the principle that other countries would deviate from this policy. But Putin found a benchmark for declaring Russia’s priority, and a priority that would be understandable to a wide range of countries and be of the same vital importance to them. It is a demand for leadership in this area of the environmental agenda, ”the political scientist is convinced.
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As political strategist Marat Bashirov noted, Putin is using Russia’s advantage in the environmental agenda to communicate with the global community. The ecological situation in a number of large countries largely depends on the condition of the forests, so the solutions may be similar. “Putin talks about huge deforestation in Brazil, for example. But there is no reforestation program like ours. And we need to regulate this work. Yes, Russia becomes a leader on this agenda when the president says we must plant forests together. But it is also beneficial for us. Putin has shown other countries that [в борьбе за климат] the solutions may be different: we must not only rebuild production and reduce CO2, but also make plans when nature itself absorbs carbon dioxide, ”Bachirov summed up.
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