Russia’s proposed National Ecology Project represents a strategy for responding to the new IPCC Report. The Project is an initiative of the Office of the President and will be implemented by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology.

The Project proposes state regulations that will affect all sectors – emitters of the economy (energy, industry, agriculture, transport, land use and forestry). In the near future, state regulation measures will be aimed at stimulating and supporting enterprises and industries implementing measures and projects to improve energy efficiency, (which is the main way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions), increase the switch to new technologies, and develop renewable energy sources.

Right now, the emphasis should be placed on improving the already existing economic incentive instruments – financing regional energy efficiency programs, stimulating technological re-equipment of industries based on BAT. The introduction of economic instruments of “carbon” regulation can be implemented after 2020 based on an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, preparation of projected estimates of the level of these emissions and implementation of regulatory measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The National Ecology Project also proposes regulations aimed at stimulating and supporting enterprises and industries implementing projects to improve energy efficiency (which is the main way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions), switch to new technologies, and develop renewable energy sources.

Short-term measures:
measures to improve the thermal insulation of existing buildings
use of modern energy efficient lighting systems
overhaul of residential buildings
stricter building codes for new homes
modernization of energy facilities, including heating systems and power lines
drastic reduction of methane leaks in the gas transmission system
accelerated development of renewable energy sources
improving the efficiency of the transport system
using cars with lower CO2 emissions
separate waste collection and disposal

Long-term measures for the future – forests.
The main directions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy production can be:

• transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources;
• increasing the share in the production of energy, electricity produced at nuclear power plants and hydropower plants;
• use in the production of energy biofuels;
• reduction of the volume of associated petroleum gas flared;
• increase the amount of utilization of coal mine methane;
• sustainable and efficient forestry management.

Activity Rating: *** Right Direction but Needs to do More

All stakeholders have heightened expectations from the National project “Ecology”. The attention of all interested parties is focused on this project. The official sites and the media give detailed descriptions of the stages of its initial implementation. Successful implementation of the project will affect the success of Russia’s transition to a low-carbon economy.

Take Action: Please send the following message to the policymaker below:

We fully support the goals of the National Ecology Project. We urge the government to complete the initial task of setting performance indicators as soon as possible so that the Project can begin to be implemented. Without such a Project it will be impossible to move forward in managing emissions reduction and in introducing new low-carbon technologies.

Contact Information:
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation
+7 499 657 57 06
pr@mnr.gov.ru
http://services.government.ru/letters/form/

This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard Country Manager Bakunovich Polina, Contact: Polina@climatescorecard.org