Speaking at the Rossiya Segodnya international news agency at the round table "International Climate Policy: Declarations and Reality", environmentalists presented an open report analyzing the environmental consequences of the international climate policy currently being implemented, including the REPowerEU plan to phase out Russian hydrocarbons and the sixth package of sanctions.
In particular, the leader of the Russian "GREEN" Andrey Nagibin said that "Russia needs to develop its own climate program on a scientific basis and recommend it to the world."
He also added that the climate process has come to a standstill. “In words, the Western world stands for an unprecedented level of cooperation between countries, in reality we see that some countries are trying to shift the brunt of the fight for the climate onto others, or even simply solve some of their problems at someone else’s expense, hiding behind the climate threat.”
The GREEN also called for an end to climate discrimination and an honest assessment and public voice of the economic impact of a green transition for each country. “It is necessary to stop making some beneficiaries and others outcasts within the framework of climate policy,” Nagibin is sure.
Already last year, gross mistakes in the EU's energy strategy led to an unjustified increase in greenhouse emissions. Coal-fired CHP production increased by 66 TWh or 20%. While hydroelectric power, wind and solar provided an additional 4 TWh compared to 2020, said Aleksey Grivach, deputy director general of the National Energy Security Fund.
Canadian oil is extracted from the oil sands by heating, using fuel oil or petroleum coke. The carbon footprint of liquefied natural gas is 2–2.5 times greater than that of pipeline gas.
This is due not only to the cost of fuel for its cooling to a liquid state, transportation by ships and regasification, but also to a large number of leaks during these operations. The hydraulic fracturing that produces shale oil and gas is a real blow to the environment.
Wind and solar stations, which the European Union relies on, cannot ensure the stability of the energy system.
“With any deviations – less wind, cooler winters – the energy system based on renewable energy sources fails and, as a result, you have to use fossil fuels again,” says Stepan Kalmykov, head of the Scientific Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences on Global Environmental Issues. “In fact, the European Union has two energy systems, such an inferior hybrid, when traditional energy is forced to insure renewable energy.”
“The decision to prioritize the deployment of renewable energy was made under the promise to quickly create the technologies necessary to turn them into a full-fledged energy system. But this did not happen,” explained climate policy expert Igor Alabuzhin.
Moreover, these technologies are extremely resource intensive.
“The implementation of plans for an energy transition based on renewable energy will lead to the fact that 37% of the land will be at risk from metal mining, of which 31% are nature reserves and wildlife,” Alexandra Kudzagova, a member of the GREEN party presidium, cited research data.
Igor Alabuzhin also doubts the energy value of fuel from agricultural crops.
“Growing and processing corn into ethanol requires more energy than can be extracted from this ethanol,” explains Alabuzhin. The expert predicts direct competition between food and fuel. “In the face of the threat of famine, we will have to choose: to grow corn in this field for food or for fuel,” Alabuzhin is sure. At the same time, billions of dollars of annual investments in biofuels have already led to the fact that millions of hectares of forests and wild fields have disappeared in the world.
“The REPowerEU plan simply does not take into account the data of the report of the UN climate group of experts (IPCC), including in terms of assessing the energy balance of the entire climate system,” said Vadim Petrov, member of the Public Council of Roshydromet, co-chairman of the Russian Environmental Chamber. “Due to the growing “climate nervousness”, the impact of dangerous hydrometeorological events around the world, we are losing human lives, infrastructure, fresh water sources and fertile land.”
The GREENS believe that Russia needs to develop its own full-fledged climate program. “It should stop the practice of climate adventurism and should be developed by scientists and engineers. If anyone can create rational programs to combat greenhouse emissions and adapt to climate change that is already underway, which would fairly distribute the risks of decarbonization, fairly solve the social issues that will inevitably arise along the way, it is they,” says Alexandra Kudzagova.
The BRICS countries, the developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America can become Russia's allies in this work. “We are ready to cooperate with all public, scientific and political organizations that seek to build environmental and climate cooperation on an equal footing,” Nagibin emphasized.
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