MOSCOW, July 16. /TASS/. Moscow did not give US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry any promises in terms of reducing emissions, Russia is already doing a lot in this area, Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
"We have a margin of environmental contribution. I repeat once again, we still invest more in the global absorption of carbon dioxide than many countries in the world," he said. Peskov stressed that Russia did not give Kerry any promises.
Peskov noted that during a telephone conversation with Kerry, Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that Moscow is doing a lot to fulfill the obligations taken under the Paris Convention. "Russia, in general, does a lot in terms of CO2, meaning the territory of Russia, Russian forests. Russia is also working a lot on developing hydropower, nuclear energy, constantly increasing the volume of clean generation," the spokesman noted.
Peskov added that during his visit to Moscow, Kerry raised the topic of Russia abandoning coal power plants, but at the moment, this is an unrealistic scenario. "At the meeting with Kerry, we talked about this, that this is a possible area for cooperation. We know that there are very old facilities that need renovation. The corresponding program is being implemented," he said.
At the same time, Peskov pointed out that now it is impossible to completely abandon coal power plants. "At the moment, it is generally impossible to talk about it, but as some kind of long-term reference point this is certainly understandable," Peskov added.
He stressed that Russia abandoning coal energy will depend on the search for alternative sources. "We have climatic particularities, we live in a country where most of the territory is in permafrost conditions, we need power generation to warm up, climatic changes are abrupt. All this cannot be ignored," Peskov said.
"In general, the topic of reducing emissions is being discussed. Reduction, of course, is the benchmark we are striving for in the medium term," Peskov concluded.
Kerry arrived in Moscow on a three-day working visit on July 12. Following the trip, a joint statement of special envoys of the presidents of Russia and the United States on climate issues was published on Thursday, where it was noted that the parties intend to work on organizing satellite monitoring of emissions and removals of greenhouse gases. In addition, the list of areas for further cooperation includes energy efficiency, climate finance, environmental solutions, and joint climate projects, reducing greenhouse gas emissions not related to carbon dioxide, and a number of other topics. Special envoys also agreed on cooperation in matters of climate policy in the Arctic.
The Kremlin press service also announced that in a telephone conversation with Kerry on July 14, Putin, in particular, stressed that Russia attaches great importance to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and supports depoliticized and professional dialogue in this area. Climate issues are one of the areas in which Russia and the United States have common interests and similar approaches.