GLASGOW, November 11. /TASS/. Russia is not indifferent to the problems of climate change that it is already experiencing and the country undertakes significant efforts on resolving them, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said on the sidelines of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow on Thursday.
"In Russia, we feel the impact of climate change. We are experiencing a whole range of negative changes that unfold right before our eyes. In the long-term perspective we see problems, already now we see both the increase [in the number] of floods, wildfires, land degradation, desertification," the Russian deputy prime minister said at an event on Russia’s role and approaches to the ways of low-carbon development.
Touching on the subject of permafrost, he noted that it "takes up almost 70% of Russia’s territory and contains significant supplies of greenhouse gases which may be emitted if this permafrost begins to melt." In relation to that, he said that a "great danger" exists that the significant part of Russia’s territory "will be affected by the erosion process and the infrastructure - by those negative processes." "All of this impacts people’s lives. That is why Russia is not indifferent at all to these problems. Quite the opposite, we are trying to resolve them, and here very significant efforts are being undertaken," the deputy prime minister noted.
The 26th UN Climate Change Conference opened in Glasgow on October 31 and will last until November 12. Delegations from over 200 countries are taking part in this event, with 120 of them represented at the highest level.