Russia has ratified the Paris climate agreement, marking a shift in rhetoric for the world`s fourth-largest greenhouse gas polluter, although its promised targets are so low that it can still increase emissions. The Paris Agreement is part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), signed in 2015, which deals with the reduction, adaptation and financing of greenhouse gas emissions. Putin has denied that global warming is man-made, a position that remains unchanged despite ratification, his spokesman told Bloomberg. Following Russia`s ratification of the Paris Agreement, the much-anticipated climate law, tabled in Parliament in December 2018, which would have imposed emissions quotas and penalized large polluters, has been eroded. The influential Union of Russian Industrialists and Entrepreneurs has effectively committed to suring that legislation is reduced to a five-year emissions audit. On Monday, the Russian prime minister formally backed the Paris climate agreement and ordered that Russian laws be adapted to his obligations, according to a decree published on the government`s website. Earlier this month, we reported that after four years of discussions, the Russian government finally seemed to support the Paris agreement. No full ratification, but on the way, according to all accounts of Russian sources. For many, in the face of President Vladimir Putin`s harsh denial of global warming, it has proved to be a strange turn of events, while proving to be a step in the right direction towards a global consensus on climate action. The agreement, signed by 196 countries, aims to mitigate the effects of climate change by reducing CO2 emissions and limiting global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius. As part of the Paris Agreement, which allowed countries to set their own targets, Russia pledged to reduce emissions by 25-30% from 1990 levels by 2030. UPDATE: Russia tabled its ratification instrument at the United Nations on Tuesday, October 15. The document signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev states that Russia formally adopts the 2015 Paris Agreement and that it „now has the financial means…

Developing countries for prevention and adaptation to climate change. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ratified Russia`s participation in the treaty after signing a law „to accept the Paris Agreement of 12 December 2015, signed on behalf of the Russian Federation in New York on 22 April 2016,“ according to the statement published on the government`s website. Russia`s ratification of the Paris Agreement in 2019 was followed in early 2020 by the publication of its draft long-term climate strategy.