The United States and Russia said on Monday (July 12) that despite tensions, they will cooperate on climate change issues during the visit of the US climate envoy John Kerry to Moscow.
Former Secretary of State Kerry, who has become US President Joe Biden’s global climate envoy, said in a meeting with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that “the risk cannot be greater.”
“We have spent several years, you and I, negotiating on war, chemical weapons and nuclear weapons, and I will say without reservation that this is absolutely a vital and equally urgent initiative,” Kerry said.
Lavrov stated that Russia looks forward to “close cooperation” with the United States at the COP26 meeting in Glasgow in November, adding that Moscow “attaches great importance to the importance of climate change issues” and that Kerry’s three-day visit is “very timely”.
The top Russian diplomat also stated that Kerry’s visit was a “very important and positive” step in “releasing the tension between the two countries.”
Russia is one of the world’s major oil and gas producers. In recent years, it has made promises and statements that show that it is taking climate change seriously.
But critics say that this country, which is also the fourth largest carbon emitter, has not done enough to deal with the crisis.
For many years, Putin was notorious for his suspicion of man-made global warming and said that Russia would benefit from it.
As the ice sheet melts and the North Sea route becomes more accessible, he has made the development of the Russian Arctic region a strategic priority, and Moscow aims to use it for the export of hydrocarbons to Asia.
But in recent months, he also issued a statement saying that climate change is not just a blessing for Moscow.
Putin stated in his annual State of the Union address in April that Russia must adapt to climate change.
At the summit held in Geneva with his American counterpart Biden, Putin also expressed Moscow’s interest in “strengthening international cooperation” on the issue of climate change.
Climate change is one of the few areas where the United States and the European Union have expressed their readiness to engage with Russia under high tension.
Former Senator Kerry, who served as Secretary of State under President Barack Obama, has stated that these months are essential to support the upgrade of the 2015 Paris Agreement commitments.
