News
Publish date: December 3, 2009
News
To this end, Bellona will be hosting a side event from 13:00 to 14:00 at the Bellona Room in the Bella Center in Copenhagen on Tuesday, December 8th entitled “Climate Policy in Russia.” Speakers will include representatives of Bellona, Ecodefence and the World Wildlife Fund, Russia.
Rising temperatures and extreme weather conditions will lead to non-uniform distribution of precipitation in cold and warm seasons, a growth of annual river throughput, an increase in size of underground waters, shifts of climatic zone borders, spread of desertification, more frequent river floods and poor harvests in Russia.
The Arctic region is experiencing some of the fastest rates of climate change. The most worrying consequence of a general rise in temperature, however, is an accelerated thawing of the Russian permafrost, which occupies more than 60 percent of the country’s northern regions. This constitutes a serious threat to Russian infrastructure. Thawing permafrost will affect Russia’s energy pipeline infrastructure, leading to increased gas leaks, oil spills and water supply disruptions. In addition, such a thaw will leave swamps in its wake that can become breeding grounds for infectious diseases.
In the context of such threats, it might be expected that Russian action to tackle climate change would be decisive. Instead, the Russian authorities have displayed a marked unwillingness to take these threats seriously. The country has been more or less invisible in the political discussions.
This session will focus on the internal climate policy of Russia as well as its position in the international climate talks, and shed light on the reasons for its passive approach, the commitments that the country has already made and the obligations, which are feasible.
Speakers (in order of presentation)
Throughout the past year, our mission at the Bellona Environmental Transparency Center has focused on two key, but intertwined issues—nuclear and radiation safety as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drags on, and the worldwide influence of Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear corporation, which itself is actively involved in the war and has participated in the occupation of a Ukrainian nuclear power plant.
At the beginning of the year, reports in the German and Russian press suggested an approximate 70% increase in uranium imports from Russia to Germany in 2024. But does this reflect broader European trends? It does not. Overall, imports of uranium and nuclear fuel from Russia to Western countries actually dropped sharply in 2024. Unlike the situation in Germany, this is already an established trend.
A Lingen, Germany plant could begin producing nuclear fuel in cooperation with a subsidiary of Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear corporation, which is directly involved in the war in Ukraine and occupying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
In this news digest, we monitor events that impact the environment in the Russian Arctic. Our focus lies in identifying the factors that contribute to pollution and climate change.