RUSSIALINK: “Putin reaffirms Russia’s plans to ratify Paris Agreement on climate change” – Interfax

File Photo of Smokestacking Spewing Cloud of Discharge

ST. PETERSBURG. April 9 (Interfax) – Russia is committed to ratifying the Paris Agreement on climate change after comprehensively analyzing it, but Russia’s role in maintaining environmental security in the Arctic should not be overestimated, President Vladimir Putin said.

Speaking at the International Arctic Forum in St. Petersburg on Tuesday, Putin corrected the mediator, who said that Russia is the largest economy in the Arctic.

“According to the IMF, China is the first economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity, and the United States of America is the second. And the U.S. and Canada are countries of the Arctic zone. But, unlike the U.S., we have both fulfilled the Tokyo Agreement and signed the Paris Agreement and are going to fulfill that,” Putin said.

“We are planning the ratification [of the Paris Agreement]. Of course, we will do it after comprehensively analyzing the consequences of these decisions, but we are moving in this direction,” he said.

“The causes of global warming are not completely clear – whether they are related to emissions or some other, more substantial reasons,” he said.

“In any case, if we do reduce anthropogenic emissions, it won’t hurt, and Russia has assumed such obligations. But it is not the largest economy. We are the sixth after China, the U.S., India, Japan, and Germany,” Putin said.


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