Putin has pledged carbon neutrality by 2060. He claims Russia’s forests will do much of the work.

“The statements Russia makes at [the U.N. climate conference] can often be considered as window dressing,” said Anna Korppoo, a research professor at Norway’s Fridtjof Nansen Institute, specializing in Russia’s climate policy.

October 27, 2021

Even as large swaths of the Siberian forest have burned during summer wildfires — made increasingly worse by climate change — the Kremlin’s strategy to slash emissions is a bet on those same trees, the Washington Post reports.

President Vladimir Putin announced earlier this month that Russia “will strive” for carbon neutrality by 2060 — its most ambitious climate goal.

But how Russia plans to accomplish that has been met with criticism and skepticism.

Putin claimed earlier this year that Russia’s vast territory, especially its forests, could neutralize “several billion [metric] tons” of carbon dioxide emissions — a figure climatologists say is unrealistic and undermines the viability of his carbon-neutrality pledge.

Putin’s increased emphasis on climate change will be tested at the United Nations’ climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, which opens Sunday. World leaders, including President Biden, have insisted that the gathering must mark a key moment to collectively commit to keeping alive the most ambitious goal of the 2015 Paris climate agreement: limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) compared with preindustrial levels.