PLEA Network

5 October 2016, Energy Post, What’s holding Russia back from ratifying the Paris Climate Agreement. Russia is now the largest greenhouse gas emitter not to have ratified the Paris Climate Agreement and it is unlikely to do so this year. The country is still deeply divided on climate policy, explains Angelina Davydova, Senior Lecturer at St Petersburg State University, in a fascinating article highlighting the forces in Russian society that are working against and in favour of the Paris Agreement. Courtesy of The Conversation. Now that India and the EU this week ratified the Paris Agreement, the Agreement looks very likely to become legally binding by the end of the year. But one important player is still missing. Russia, the world’s fifth-largest greenhouse gas emitter is unlikely to ratify by the end of the year. Following a special climate event at the 2016 United Nations General Assembly, Alexander Bedtritsky, special adviser on climate to Vladimir Putin, confirmed that “Russia will not artificially speed up the ratification process”. Russian representatives have said they need more time to evaluate the effects of the Paris agreement on the Russian economy, which is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. The government wants to draft a low-carbon development strategy before deciding to ratify. So far, the plan is to work out an analysis of the socio-economic effects of the ratification by mid-December, and to later draft a strategy for low-carbon development. No certain deadline for ratification, which is due to take place by passing a corresponding legal act within Russia, has been set. Read more here