This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard Russia Country Manager Michael Oshchepkov
Best Organizational Sources: Climate Center of Roshydromet; Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat); Government of Russia Analytical Center
At the moment, Russia is undergoing a period of transition. After joining in the Paris Climate Agreement, Russian businesses were given a signal about the beginning of transformation towards a more responsible economic model. An additional stimulating factor was the initiative to introduce cross-border carbon regulations by the European Union, which brought the climate agenda in Russia to a new level of awareness. Now issues related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are no longer just a matter of concern for individual enthusiastic companies, but a national problem and goal.
The main and most authoritative source of information on GHG emissions in Russia today is the Climate Center of Roshydromet (https://cc.voeikovmgo.ru/ru/).[1] This climate center regularly monitors GHG emissions throughout the country and cooperates with various leading global organizations (i.e. World Meteorological organization, UN environmental program, Global Carbon project, World Health Organization). Annually, the Climate Center of Roshydromet publishes detailed reports on the amount of GHG emissions both in general and in the context of various sectors of the economy:
Table 1. Greenhouse gas emissions by IPCC sector[2]
| Sectors | CO2 emissions, mln tons | ||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
| Energy | 1664.6 | 1662.5 | 1663.0 | 1700.7 | 1752.6 |
| Industrial processes | 220.4 | 218.5 | 218.2 | 232.4 | 243.1 |
| Agriculture | 120.1 | 121.5 | 123.5 | 126.6 | 126.7 |
| Forestry | -669.5 | -582.2 | -601.2 | -591.1 | -590.6 |
| Waste | 89.3 | 91,4 | 93.5 | 95.6 | 97.7 |
| Total: | 1424.9 | 1511.9 | 1497.0 | 1564.1 | 16295 |
Source: Climate Center of Roshydromet
The Roshydromet Center’s Review of the State and Pollution of the Environment in the Russian Federation for 2019 can be found at the following link: https://cc.voeikovmgo.ru/images/dokumenty/2020/review2019.pdf. In addition, the above mentioned center published a national report “On the Inventory of Anthropogenic Emissions” in 2019. The report contained detailed information on the volume of various types of greenhouse gases for the designated period (https://cc.voeikovmgo.ru/images/dokumenty/2019/RUS_NIR-2019_v1.pdf).
Roshydromet also analyzes the variability of greenhouse gas concentrations in the surface layer of the atmosphere, which is carried out based on measurement results from four GHG monitoring stations managed by the Global Atmospheric Service of the World Meteorological Organization. The Teriberka station (Kola Peninsula, Barents Sea coast) and the Tiksi station (Arctic coast, Laptev Sea, Sogo Bay) are located in conditions close to baseline. The New Port station (Yamal Peninsula, coast of the Gulf of Ob) and the Voikovo station (a suburb of St. Petersburg) are in areas of large-scale anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gases. The observation program at these stations includes collecting information on the content of CO2 and CH4 in the atmosphere. Then the data from Teriberka and Tiksi are transmitted to the World Greenhouse Gas Data Center (WDCGG), where they are used in conducting a global analysis of the fields of these gases.
Roshydromet is currently the only major Russian climate center that publishes this kind of information. At the moment, the issue of establishing another climatic scientific and educational center in Krasnoyarsk on the basis of the Siberian Federal University is being addressed.
The second most important and most popular source of climate information is the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat). Rosstat annually publishes a statistical report called “Environmental Protection in Russia”. The report contains data on greenhouse gas emissions for various sectors of the economy (energy, industry, agriculture, forestry, waste), both in absolute values and relative ones to 1990. Data on emissions of not only carbon dioxide, but also methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride are provided. An example of the report can be found at the following link, starting from page 33 (https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/nmV0UuE3/Ochrana_2020.pdf).
In addition to Rosstat, the Analytical Center under the Government of the Russian Federation monitors GHG emission statistics. The Analytical Center regularly publishes a bulletin on the current trends of the Russian economy. In this bulletin, special attention is paid to the issues of ecology, economy, and trends towards the decarbonization of Russia. It is important to note that the Analytical Center does not only collect statistical data, but it also conducts detailed analytics and compares the Russian experience with similar data from other countries. Information on the impact of Russia on climate change is presented not only in the context of economic sectors, but also in details for different regions and cities of the Russian Federation (https://ac.gov.ru/uploads/2-Publications/BRE/_%D0%BE%D0%BA%D1%82%D1%8F%D0%B1%D1%80%D1%8C_web.pdf).
Another authoritative source on the volume of greenhouse gas emissions in Russia is the Russian office of the McKinsey consulting company. Despite the fact that the company’s head office is based in the USA, the McKinsey division in Russia annually publishes detailed reports containing an analysis of greenhouse gas emissions in the following sectors of the economy: real estate and construction, energy, industry, and transport. The latest company’s report can be found at the following link: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Business%20Functions/Sustainability/Our%20Insights/Pathways%20to%20an%20energy%20and%20carbon%20efficient%20Russia/Pathways%20to%20an%20energy%20and%20carbon%20efficient%20Russia%20RU%20full%20report.pdf.
Similar reports are published by the Russian divisions of foreign consulting companies Deloitte, KPMG, PwC, etc.
As mentioned above, there are several reputable analytical centers in Russia that publish information on the impact of economic activity on processes related to climate change. Russia has its own scientific school and expertise in global environmental and climatic processes. The information provided by the Russian national centers allows Russia to be independent of external sources of information. However, Russian companies often rely on climate reports from such foreign organizations as BP, IEA, and the World Bank, since it is important for Russian companies to constantly compare their successes with the successes of foreign representatives of their industry, as well as to assess how objective the data published by national Russian analytical agencies are.
In Russia the best climate related information is traditionally provided by energy, agriculture, and transport sectors. The most qualitative information is provided by the energy sector, since Russian energy companies are most interested in combating global climate problems and provide their data to state analytical centers. For example, the latest report of the Analytical Center under the Government of the Russian Federation provides information on emissions of pollutants in a form similarly to Roshydromet:
Table 2. Greenhouse gas emissions in Russia by sector[3]
| Объем выбросов парниковых газов, млрд тонн | Share, % | ||||||
| 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2017 | 2018 | 1990 | 2018 | |
| Energy sector | 2.6 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 80.6 | 78.9 |
| Industries | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 8.9 | 11.0 |
| Agriculture | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 8.7 | 5.7 |
| Waste | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 4.4 |
| Total: | 3.2 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
Source: Analytical Center under the Government of the Russian Federation
In turn, Rosstat publishes data on greenhouse gas emissions related to energy, agriculture, forestry, and waste. (https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/nmV0UuE3/Ochrana_2020.pdf P. 36-38)
Quality and reliability of the climate emissions data produced by the country:
Rating: *** Good
Four Stars (****): Outstanding
Three stars (***): Good
Two stars (**): Fair
One star (*): Poor
Contact:
Leonid Grigoriev, Chief Adviser of the Analytical Center
Contact person: Evgeniya Muzychenko,
Tel: +7 (905) 551 – 00 – 98
Igor Shumakov, Head of Roshydromet
Contact person: Shinkaruk Vyacheslav, Advisor to the head of Roshydromet
E-mail: press@meteorf.ru
[1] Roshydromet or Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring of Russia – is a service in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Russia) which carries out the functions of state property management and provision of public services in the field of hydrometeorology and related areas, monitoring of environmental environment pollution, public oversight of the work on modification of meteorological and other geophysical processes.
[2] https://cc.voeikovmgo.ru/images/dokumenty/2020/review2019.pdf
[3] https://cc.voeikovmgo.ru/images/dokumenty/2020/review2019.pdf