German-Russian environmental talks in Moscow
Following the most recent German-Russian government consultations on environmental policy, Michael Müller, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), sees new impetus for the two countries' cooperation in the area of climate policy. "Russia is currently at a fork in the road at which it must decide whether its prosperity is to be founded solely on sales of raw materials or also on ecological modernisation. Competitiveness and efficiency are really two sides of the same coin. In the discussions, it emerged that our Russian contacts clearly see both sides", Müller noted today at the conclusion of the 10th meeting of the German-Russian Guidance Group on implementation of a government agreement with Russia in the environmental sector.
The emphases of German-Russian cooperation in this area include issues relative to implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. In addition to covering important technical details such as preparation of greenhouse-gas balances, and relevant monitoring, the discussions focussed on the legal basis for use of Kyoto mechanisms, especially joint implementation. "Unless the necessary legal basis is created soon, there is a danger that companies and climate-protection funds could begin looking elsewhere. The time window for relevant international investments is slowly beginning to close", Müller said. At the same time, Müller noted, the Russian side understands that Russia would squander enormous opportunities by allowing that window to close unused. To date, German companies have put forward some two dozen project proposals in the areas of methane and energy efficiency, with potential emissions reductions amounting to tens of millions of tonnes. "The numbers could be even higher if pertinent, legally binding provisions were already in place", Müller emphasised.
Some progress has also been made at the practical level: An agreement was reached with the Russian Ministry for Economic Development and Trade on a programme of work designed to promote cooperation between German and Russian companies in the area of climate protection. Agreement was also reached on publication, scheduled for early December, of a German-Russian handbook on "joint implementation" of climate protection projects for Russian companies and on organising a pertinent conference.