Russia will press on with its climate agenda - Kremlin envoy

A Kremlin adviser said on Tuesday that Russia would move ahead with its climate agenda even though Western companies were leaving the country because of international sanctions over Ukraine. Kremlin climate envoy Ruslan Edelgeriyev told a conference in Moscow he believed Western companies would eventually return and invest in climate-related projects.

A Kremlin adviser said on Tuesday that Russia would move ahead with its climate agenda even though Western companies were leaving the country because of international sanctions over Ukraine.

Kremlin climate envoy Ruslan Edelgeriyev told a conference in Moscow he believed Western companies would eventually return and invest in climate-related projects. Russia has consistently fulfilled its climate commitments, and "in the current situation it would be an unjustified approach if we forego those obligations", he said.

Russia, the world's biggest exporter of natural gas and number two exporter of oil, joined the Paris climate change pact in 2019, which commits countries to set targets every five years to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Russia is one of the world's top carbon dioxide emitters along with China, the United States, and India. It has set a goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, a process in which forests, hydro and nuclear energy are intended to play key roles.