Priorities

• Ensure a low-level greenhouse gas emissions by implementing the Ministry of Economic Development scenario for reducing emissions
• Expansion of investment programs to support renewable energy projects
• An increase in the use of renewable energy in the country’s energy and transport sectors
• Termination of subsidized support for oil companies and the revision of railway tariffs for the transportation of coal
• Refusal to build new and significant modernization of existing coal-fired power plants
• An increase in renewable energy projects in the portfolio of assets of Russian fuel and energy companies
• Development of a state strategy for the transfer of commercial, public and personal transport to more environmentally friendly fuels

 

Narrative

At first glance, it may seem that reducing emissions by 50% by 2030 sounds like something impossible for Russia. However, in 2020, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation prepared a strategy for the long-term development of Russia with low greenhouse gas emissions until 2050. According to this strategy, in the baseline scenario, Russia will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 36% by 2050 (from 1990 levels), up to 2 billion tons of CO₂ equivalent.

In this scenario, it is proposed: to massively introduce energy-saving technologies in the energy sector, industry, buildings, and transport; reduce energy losses; increase the volume of waste processing; reclaim the largest landfills; dispose of methane; stimulate the production and use of products with a high class of energy efficiency; strengthen the protection of forests from fires and pests; and reduce continuous logging.

In a more intensive scenario, Russia expects to reduce emissions by 36% by 2030, and by 2050 by 48%, to 1.6 billion tons of CO₂. In this intensive scenario, additional measures will be implemented such as: price regulation of greenhouse gas emissions (taxes and fees); creation of a national system for labeling carbon-intensive goods and disclosure to consumers of information about the sources of electricity; creation of incentives for equipping buildings with solar collectors and photovoltaic panels; expansion of producer responsibility, introduction of recycling fees, reclassification of waste into secondary resources; and the prohibition of continuous logging.

Objective 1. The first and most important task on the way to reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 is to ensure the implementation of the current strategy for the long-term development of Russia with low greenhouse gas emissions under an intensive scenario.

Objective 2. It is necessary to radically reconsider the approach to the implementation of renewable energy projects in Russia. At the moment, the country is dominated by the opinion that Russia does not have sufficiently favorable geographical conditions for the development of renewable energy. However, this is not entirely true. In a significant part of the country, including in the densely populated European part, the average annual wind speed exceeds 7 m/s, which indicates excellent conditions for industrial wind power.

At the same time, in many regions, especially in the south of the European part of the country, Siberia and the Far East, the total average annual solar radiation entering the horizontal surface is greater than in Germany and amounts to 3.5-4 kWh/m² per day.

As soon as it is possible to dispel the myths about the implementation of renewable energy in the Russian Federation, a suitable environment for the development of renewable energy in Russia will automatically begin to form. An indicator of the implementation of this strategy will be the expansion of investment programs to support renewable energy projects in Russia and the increase in renewable energy in the country’s fuel and energy use. The Russian Government is responsible for the implementation of this task.

Objective 3. Refusing to subsidize fossil fuels is the most important and one of the key tasks on the way to achieving our goal. As long as the State continues to support the extraction of fossil fuels, more environmentally friendly ways of generating energy will not be able to compete with them. Subsidies to companies producing hydrocarbons can then be redirected to targeted support for the least affluent households. The indicator of achieving this goal is the termination of subsidized support for oil companies and the revision of railway tariffs for the transportation of coal. Only the Russian government is able to implement this task.

Objective 4. Refusal to build new and significant modernization of existing coal-fired power plants; gradual decommissioning of such power plants as well as the purposeful replacement of them with renewable energy sources. This goal can be achieved only through the joint efforts of business and the State. “Currently the volume of subsidies for renewable energy is much smaller in comparison with what the oil and gas industry receive.” An indicator of the implementation of this goal will be an increase in renewable energy projects in the portfolio of assets of Russian fuel and energy companies. Despite the fact that honest business will be the actual executor of the goal, the main role is played by the Russian government.

 

Objective 5. Development of a state strategy for the transfer of commercial, public and personal transport to more environmentally friendly fuels – electricity, natural gas and hydrogen. In fact, the oil and gas sector, which is often blamed for poisoning the planet, produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions than transport. Today, fuel combustion in transport generates from 15-16% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and in Russia the share of transport in total emissions is even greater. If we want to achieve a significant reduction in emissions, then the funds released from the termination of support for oil and coal companies can be directed, among other things, to the accelerated implementation of this program. An indicator of achieving this goal will be the coefficients of electrification and gasification of transport in Russia.

Contact:

Ksenia Kuramzhina, Project Coordinator of CGI Russia

Email: kkuramzhina@cgi-russia.ru

This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard Russia Country Manager Michael Oshchepkov