State Secretary Flasbarth in Moscow for climate and environmental policy talks
Germany and Russia want to closely cooperate on the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The two countries also wish to collaborate closer on the adaptation to climate change. These are the objectives of agreements concluded today in Moscow by Environment State Secretary Jochen Flasbarth and Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Sergei Donskoi. In talks with the adviser to the president on climate change, Alexander Bedritsky, and the Russian G20 Sherpa, Svetlana Lukash, Jochen Flasbarth also expressed his support for putting a strong emphasis on international climate action, including under Germany’s G20 presidency. The Russian interlocutors stressed the important role of both bilateral and multilateral cooperation on climate action.
State Secretary Flasbarth commented: "The realisation of ambitious environmental and climate actions can offer great potential for economic modernisation. This is a key message we want to send out during the German G20 presidency. We are working in concert with our Russian partners in order to recognize potential, identify risks and elaborate strategies for a climate-friendly economic development."
Another focus of the political talks was placed on forestry issues. Russia’s forests are a key element of climate action as they store large amounts of carbon dioxide. This cooperation aims at further developing assessment methods for the ecological role of forests and at examining mutual effects of climate change and Russian forests.
The Federal Environment Ministry (BMUB) plans to provide funding of approximately 13 million euros from its International Climate Initiative (IKI) over the next years to implement joint projects for climate action and environmental protection. The BMUB and its Russian partner ministry are already closely collaborating on promoting the use of modern green technologies with the purpose of boosting climate-friendly industry in Russia. Another area of close cooperation is strengthening natural carbon sinks in Russia. In recent years, the revival of Russian peat bogs which store large amounts of carbon dioxide has been successfully advanced.