A Verification System for Climate Projects to Be Launched in Russia in Near Future

Photo: Dzhus Alexander/GeoPhoto.ru

A Verification System for Climate Projects to Be Launched in Russia in Near Future

In 2022, a national climate assessment and certification system based on international standards will be implemented in Russia, said Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov this 27 September at a session on carbon balance and management held in Sakhalin. By November 2021, the national standardization authority will have approved all procedures necessary for the system to start functioning, while the process of accrediting verification and validation bodies will kick off this December, Reshetnikov said.

On 21 September 2021, the Government passed a decree introducing criteria for classing projects as either green (i.e. compliant with international standards and requirements for climate and sustainable development) or adaptive ones (non-compliant yet environmentally beneficial), as well as a set of requirements for a national system of project verification. Sakhalin will become a pilot region for testing the newly designed carbon management system.

According to Sakhalin Oblast Governor Valery Limarenko, the region aims to become the country’s first carbon neutral province by 2025. The experience and best practices accumulated under the pilot project will help adapt the rest of the country to a new regulatory reality. This is also important in terms of development in the Russian Arctic, as, having been tested in a remote Far-Eastern region, new carbon-clean technologies and solutions will have to be introduced in Russia’s High North.

Manufacturing companies will have to take a lead in the process of transition towards a low-carbon economy, the Minister believes. They are expected to put in place an infrastructure that provides for lowering carbon emissions from production. Such transition will also have to involve switching to electric transportation and alternative fuels (such as hydrogen), Mr. Reshetnikov said.

However, the transition requires substantial investments. The funding issue will be solved through the introduction of the project verification system, which is expected to enable borrowing via green instruments -- both in Russia and abroad.
Alexander Stotskiy
28 September 2021
Arctic Today