By Angelina Davydova

For many years, the climate change agenda has had little or no relevance for Russia, one of the world’s leading suppliers of oil, gas and coal. But now the situation is changing. The country is realising the risks of climate change, both in their physical and economic forms.

As other countries, many of which are buying fossil fuels from Russia, are announcing their decarbonisation plans, raising their climate ambition and setting net zero carbon goals, Russia’s future will depend on its ability to diversify its economy, decarbonise the energy sector and develop renewable energy solutions, also taking in the hydrogen economy. In this article for the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), GDL member Angelina Davydova comments on the driving forces in Russia’s climate policy and economics and analyses whether changes can happen in the foreseeable future.

You can find more information on the topic in a dossier on “Climate Change in the Post-Soviet Space”, published by the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) and edited by your fellow GDL member Eleonora Tafuro Ambrosetti who herself also wrote a commentary on climate change action in the post-Soviet region.

About the author:

Angelina Davydova is an environmental journalist specialized in economic and political aspects of global and Russian climate policy and continuously promotes international cooperation in the environmental and climate fields.

Published on May 27, 2021.

Photo credit: Anne Schönharting