Russia seeks to counter West’s climate agenda with gas, nuclear power

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia will pursue its own climate-related goals and put forward proposals on tackling global warming as an alternative to the agenda promoted by the West, Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin said on Friday.

His comments could be a precursor for potential clashes at the COP29 U.N. climate summit, which is due to take place in November in Azerbaijan.

Relations between Russia and the West are at their worst in decades because of the Ukraine conflict and they disagree on many issues, including climate.

Russia, which has the world’s largest natural gas reserves, is working on a new energy strategy through to 2050.

“In our energy strategy, we will take into account those (climate-related) measures that will not put significant pressure on our development potential, and we will encourage friendly countries to do the same,” Sorokin told an energy conference.

He said there was great potential in energy efficiency as a way of tackling the climate crisis.

“In Russia, our energy saving potential is 20%-30%. This is a constructive way to reduce emissions, and not litter everything with wind turbines and solar panels,” Sorokin said.

“Some of the realistic measures are to use the clean resources that we have. Such as gas, such as nuclear, such as hydropower.”

Russia has frequently argued that use of natural gas is fully compatible with global goals on tackling climate change and says it should remain a key element in energy consumption.

Some climate scientists say rising production of natural gas, mainly methane, is emerging as one of the biggest drivers of climate change, and that plans for industry expansion could hobble efforts to curb greenhouse gases.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Gareth Jones)