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The Climate Question

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Why we find it so hard to save our own planet, and how we might change that.

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The Climate Question: Putin and the planet

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17/10/2021 GMT

Putin and the planet

BBC World Service - The Climate Question, Putin and the planet

Has Russia’s leader changed his tune? The man who once joked about climate change now says Russia is taking action.

Russia is the world’s fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gasses. Any talk of changing that needs to focus on President Vladimir Putin. Under his leadership, Russia has become a fossil fuel powerhouse. Since he took office in 2000, Russian oil production has risen by 70%. Today, the state is dependent on its revenues. Four in every ten dollars Moscow spends comes from fossil fuels. So the idea that Russia needs to shift away from fossil fuels to prevent the worst effects of climate change strikes at the very heart of Mr Putin’s power.  

But Russia is already suffering more than most from the effects of climate change. Arctic temperatures are rising faster than the global average, forests the size of countries are going up in smoke. Two thirds of the country’s permafrost - permanently frozen ground - has roads, homes, schools, oil and pipelines and even nuclear reactors are built on it. And the permafrost is starting to melt.  
Putin’s latest national security document for the first time mentions climate change as a risk. But can he do what is necessary to prevent things from getting worse?

Contributors -
Angelina Davydova - Environmental Journalist 
Chris Miller - Director of the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Eurasia Program
Vladimir Chuprov  - Director of  the Energy Program, Greenpeace Russia
 
Presenters: Neal Razzell and Kate Lamble
Reporter - Olga Dobrovidova 
Producer: Jordan Dunbar

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