MOSCOW, July 13. /TASS/. US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, who met in Moscow with his Russian counterpart, Ruslan Edelgeriyev, suggested research cooperation between the two countries be expanded, the office of the Russian presidential envoy for climate said on Tuesday.
"Russia and the United States stressed the importance of scientific data in decision-making. During the discussion, they relied on information from the intergovernmental group of experts in climate change. The Russian side drew attention to the fact that it is developing a federal research program in the area of Russia’s ecological development and climate change for 2021-2030 that will be geared, among other things, toward studying the climate, mechanisms of adaptation to climate change and its impacts. The American side suggested research cooperation between the two countries be expanded," it said.
During the three-hour consultations, the sides discussed a wide range of issues, including low-carbon development and the current tendencies of decarbonizing global trade. Kerry also spoke about the measures taken in his country to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stressed the importance of meeting the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement. The sides, according to Edelgeriyev’s office, expressed readiness to leave aside political differences for the sake of joint efforts to deal with climate change.
"The sides thanked each other for the honest discussion, which paves the way for further cooperation between Russia and the United States on climate change matters. Ruslan Edelgeriyev welcomed the new American administration’s first steps towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The sides agreed to continue the discussion in the working format and as part of a ministerial conference on climate change due to be held in London on July 25-26," it said.
The Russian envoy also stressed the coherent nature of Russia’s climate policy. The sides agreed that Russia has vast potential in terms of creating new sectors of the economy, such as the production of eco-friendly hydrogen, technologies for the production of hydrogen from the atmosphere, and the use of fourth-generation nuclear reactors.
"The Russian delegation insists on the necessity of attaining the Paris Agreement’s temperature goals, i.e. to keep the average global temperature rise beneath two degrees centigrade as compared with the pre-industrial level and to spare no effort to limit temperature growth under 1.5 degrees centigrade. We deem this index as one of our top priorities," it emphasized.