Krasnoyarsk. Photo: Alexander Kuptsov/especially for Novaya
From January 1, 2022, Federal Law 296 “On Limiting Greenhouse Gas Emissions” came into force. In fact, this is the first attempt to legally regulate the issue of limiting greenhouse gas emissions in Russia.
Against the backdrop of unprecedented attention to climate issues, we have no choice but to move with the whole world towards carbon neutrality (the principle that the amount of carbon emissions into the atmosphere should be comparable to the amount that forests can absorb). In 2019, Russia ratified the Paris Climate Agreement, which aims to keep global temperatures from rising above 1.5°C by mid-century. Russia has also been a party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change since 1994. This imposes an obligation on us to take measures to mitigate climate change by limiting our anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.
However, if you look at the adopted law, it turns out that there is nothing about the real limitation of emissions.
The law itself is a framework and general law — there are no measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the document in principle. As a result, it turned out to be a dictionary of terms: what is a climate project, a carbon unit, greenhouse gases, etc. — this is also necessary, but not enough. The law requires additional government regulations.
Under the new law, businesses that generate greenhouse gases during production are required to report their emissions. Nothing more is required from companies. In addition, there is no provision in the law on verification, that is, on data verification. It is not clear who will check the accuracy of the company's reports.
The purpose of the law is defined as creating conditions for sustainable and balanced development of the Russian economy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But this law is empty. It does nothing to help control and reduce emissions.
I would like to draw attention not to the law that has entered into force, but to the draft law on conducting an experiment to limit greenhouse gas emissions in certain regions, which is now being considered in the State Duma (adopted in the first reading). It is more meaningful and introduces quotas for greenhouse gas emissions, which can really lead to a reduction in emissions. Despite the fact that the draft law regulates the experiment on achieving carbon neutrality in the Sakhalin region, it provides for the possibility of similar experiments in other regions of Russia.
The Sakhalin experiment will run from March 1, 2022 to December 31, 2028, with the region's carbon neutrality scheduled for the end of 2025. The draft law introduces quotas for greenhouse gas emissions and more stringent mandatory carbon reporting. If an enterprise exceeds the established quotas, it is obliged to pay a fine. In addition, the bill spells out incentives for companies to achieve carbon neutrality: tax deductions and subsidies related to the reimbursement of production costs.
How easy is it to understand that the carbon neutrality experiment bill is really aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions? It was opposed by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), the main lobbyist for large commodity corporations.
In turn, the RSPP supported the adopted 296-FZ «On Limiting Greenhouse Gas Emissions». This can only speak of its nominality and meaninglessness, since it does not carry any restrictions for companies.
The RSPP has criticized the draft law on the experiment on the real reduction of greenhouse gas emissions: representatives of mining corporations are afraid that its effect may go beyond the Sakhalin region. The big polluters simply don't want emission caps and quota charges to be applied to businesses across the country. There is no list of regions yet, but already Bashkortostan, the Kaliningrad region and other subjects have expressed a desire to participate in the experiment.
The bill is only about the experiment, it does not introduce any drastic restrictions throughout Russia, but the RSPP has already proposed to completely abandon emissions quotas. Large commodity companies do not want to change anything, they want to continue emitting greenhouse gases indefinitely and not pay for it.
It is worth noting that the experiment provides for soft regulation: quotas are free, that is, companies will pay only for excess, but this does not suit the RUIE. There are countries where businesses pay for the quotas themselves.
