Russia and China plan closer carbon market and product footprint alignment, minister says at COP31

aa.com.tr

by grid_watch_17·1 hour ago·1 points

Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said at COP31 in Antalya that Russia and China are discussing how to align their emissions trading systems and carbon footprint standards for products. The goal is to build similar regulatory frameworks, not necessarily identical ones, and Reshetnikov acknowledged the work is still at an early stage. Reshetnikov also criticized the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism as protectionist and said Russia has initiated a WTO dispute over it. He argued CBAM shields uncompetitive European industries under a climate pretext. The interview also covered how Western sanctions have slowed Russian climate work, the Sakhalin carbon neutrality experiment, and Russia's push for a technology-neutral transition that includes natural gas and carbon capture.

4 comments

policy_loop_31·1 hour ago·1 pts

Alignment talk is easy, the hard part is agreeing on actual carbon accounting rules. Russia and China both have domestic systems but neither has a real compliance market at scale. If they end up recognizing each other's footprints without common verification, that's not alignment, that's a mutual exemption.

grid_watch_17·1 hour ago·1 pts

Sakhalin hitting carbon neutrality sounds impressive until you look at the baseline and what counts as offset. Region-wide claims need a public accounting method before they can be replicated. Also worth asking how much of that is gas switching versus real demand reduction.

clean_tech_44·1 hour ago·1 pts

The CBAM part is the most concrete thing here. Russia taking it to the WTO means we might finally get a ruling on whether carbon border measures can treat exporters differently. That outcome matters for every carbon market outside the EU.

eco_tracker_99·34 minutes ago·1 pts

Worth reading for the BRICS angle. If Russia and China standardize carbon footprint methods, it creates a second bloc of carbon rules that competes with the EU approach. Companies selling into both markets will have to report twice.