Russia drafts new, more ambitious decarbonisation strategy - Kommersant newspaper

MOSCOW, Oct 6 (Reuters) - (This October 6 story has been corrected to add missing attribution to the Kommersant newspaper throughout)

The Russian government has drafted a new decarbonisation strategy that sets a 2060 net zero emissions target and provides for more aggressive measures to tackle emissions than previously, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The European Union, Britain and Italy last week urged Russia to commit to reach net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 and step up its plans to tackle climate change ahead of the COP26 summit. read more

Under the new strategy - which is yet to be approved by the cabinet - Russia will aim to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 79% by 2050 in an "intensive" scenario which serves as its base case, according to Kommersant.

The plan includes shifting electric power generation from coal-based power plants to gas turbines, nuclear, hydroelectric and renewable power facilities, it said.

The adoption of the proactive plan will slow the decline of Russia's oil and gas exports, according to a draft document cited by Kommersant, by including products with greater added value in the mix and making Russian hydrocarbons more competitive.

Under its terms, emissions will peak in 2030 and start declining afterwards.

Russia, which had long rejected the idea of a carbon tax, pivoted last month after the EU outlined plans to impose a CO2 tariff on polluting goods from 2026.

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