Medvedev vows Russian greenhouse gases down 25% on 1990 by 2020
Russia will restrict its greenhouse gas emissions to 25% of 1990 levels by 2020, President Dmitry Medvedev promised on Monday.
Mr. Medvedev wrote on his blog that Russia could keep 30 billion tons of greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere each year by enhancing its energy and environmental efficiency through economic modernization based on energy-saving technology and the development of renewable energy sources.
Russia plans to raise the energy efficiency of the economy by 40% by 2020, Medvedev writes. The share of nuclear energy will be increased by 25% by 2030.
Russia’s emissions in 2006 were assessed at 34 percent below 1990 levels after the economic contraction of the early 1990s, so Medvedev’s commitment would allow Russia to increase its emissions on current volumes, RIA Novosti writes.
Medvedev said in his blog that he would attend the UN conference on climate change underway in Copenhagen “to contribute to the adoption of decisions that would unite the efforts of all countries.”
