Russia to spend $1.3 trillion on transition to environmentally friendly energy sources over 28 years – Deputy PM ahead of COP26
Ahead of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference, Moscow has revealed it will spend over a trillion dollars over the next three decades to keep up with the global energy transition towards more environmentally friendly sources.
Speaking to Moscow daily Kommersant, Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov said that the world’s movement towards greener energy has already begun, and Russia plans to play a significant role in it.
“Our entire intensive energy transition strategy costs about 90 trillion rubles ($1.3 trillion) over 28 years. That means 3.2 trillion ($46 billion) a year,” Belousov specified, noting that it sits at around 3% of GDP.
According to the deputy prime minister, the energy revolution has already started and is “unlikely to be stopped,” so Russia should make the most of its advantages, especially with regards to already existing nuclear and hydrogen technology, suggesting that the country’s gas pipeline infrastructure, such as Nord Stream 2, could be used to pump hydrogen.
Also on rt.com Putin to stay at home instead of travelling to COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, but Russia will participate – Kremlin“The demand for hydrogen is colossal. It is already about 120 million tons a year. According to our estimates, we can take over 20% of the world hydrogen market in 20 years," he said.
With such a large part of Russia’s GDP relying on energy exports, Moscow is incentivized to stay ahead of the global transition. In September, head of SberBank Herman Gref warned that achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 could result in a $192 billion drop in Russian energy exports.
In recent times, Moscow has been more serious in its rhetoric about tackling climate change, and President Vladimir Putin has subsequently pushed the country towards embracing the energy transition. However, despite his newfound green drive, it was revealed last week that Putin will not attend the upcoming COP26 UN climate change conference in Glasgow in person. Russia will, however, send a large delegation, and Putin is expected to participate via video link.
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