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Vladimir Putin: Russia’s plans
PUTIN VLADIMIR
Russia is warming 2.5 times faster than the planet as a whole and the twoyear “first stage” plan is an indication the government officially recognises this as a problem, even though Vladimir Putin denies human activity is the cause- “Nobody knows the origins of global climate change”, seeming to cast doubt over whether global warming is of man-made origin and stating it could be blamed on cosmological processes.
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Even though he has many scientists on his team which has proved him wrong on this matter with physical proof, he is still in denial. Putin has also also criticised the Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, describing her as an uninformed, impressionable teenager possibly being “used” in someone’s interest and understands he may be hated for not being as ‘enthusiastic’ as everyone else.
Russia has published a plan to adapt its economy and population to climate change, aiming to mitigate damage but also “use the advantages” of warmer temperatures.
“We know that in the history of our Earth there have been periods of warming and cooling and it could depend on processes in the universe. A small angle in the axis in the rotation of the Earth or its orbit around the Sun could push the planet into serious climate changes.” [Andrew Osborn, Polina Devitt]
All countries are under pressure to announce more ambitious policies on climate change in 2020, the first five-year milestone of the Paris climate agreement, with calls to link stimulus packagesto combat the coronavirus to a greener economy.
Despite the negative trends, Russia has made some progress in reducing its coal and oil consumption. From 2015-2018, these products’ share as energy sources has fallen by 4%, while natural gas has risen by about 3.5% per year.
Edelgeriev (Putins top climate advisor) has said that arguing over the causes of climate change is pointless: “The climate has changed and is changing, so the questions are how can we influence it so that it doesn’t change further, how to adapt to what has changed and determining what to do next.” 17
