Russia Envoy Backs Paris Climate Deal, Hopes Trump Will Too

(Bloomberg) — Russia backs the Paris climate agreement, the Kremlin’s envoy said, adding he hoped President-elect Donald Trump will also keep the US in the landmark agreement.      

“There are some voices in Russia calling for the withdrawal from the Paris accord. This is wrong. There is no way back,” Boris Titov, President Vladimir Putin’s special representative for international cooperation in sustainability, said in an interview at the COP29 summit in Azerbaijan. The agreement is still the foundation for nations to reduce emissions, he said.

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Trump has vowed to again withdraw the world’s-second largest polluter from the Paris Agreement — as happened during his first term — potentially undermining global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Argentina, which withdrew its negotiating team from COP29 just four days into the summit, is studying a potential withdrawal from the accord, the country’s foreign minister told the New York Times. 

There’s growing concern over leaders around the world getting skeptical about climate change. Russia, the world’s fourth-biggest emitter, thinks climate talks should not be “interrupted despite political differences,” Titov said. 

He said he hoped Trump “will not make spontaneous decisions that will harm the climate agenda” as it is an existential problem for humanity.

Russia ratified the 2015 Paris climate agreement only in 2019. It set a goal to cut Russia’s net CO2 emissions to zero by 2060 several months before the Kremlin ordered troops into Ukraine.

Climate remains one of a few topics where it is still able to find common ground with the western countries, which imposed sanctions on its economy. Russia has among the biggest delegation at COP this year, with 900 people registered. 

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Titov said that Russia will promote climate agenda within international organizations. It is in talks with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization members to create a sustainable development council, that will focus on everything from carbon markets to ESG reporting and sustainable development targets. These discussions should start within BRICS as well, Titov said.

Russia sees the creation of effective markets for carbon trading as important for the energy transition. Natural gas, biofuel and nuclear energy should be considered green and get the same funding as solar and wind, Titov said.

—With assistance from Yuliya Fedorinova.

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