Irina Petrunina has been Director of the Department for Competition, Energy Efficiency, and Environment at the Russian Ministry of Economic Development since 2022. She graduated from the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. She underwent retraining at the Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation.

From 1991 to 2019, she held positions in education – from deputy school director to deputy director of the Department of State Policy in the sphere of upbringing, additional education and children’s recreation of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation. Honoured Worker of General Education of the Russian Federation. 

How important is the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and what are the most urgent tasks under this convention now?

The Convention on Climate Change is a good international platform under the auspices of the UN, where countries can agree on how they will develop, taking into account that it is necessary, on the one hand, to slow down climate change and, on the other hand, to adapt to these changes. For example, in 2023 there was a global stocktaking in Dubai, and on this platform the Russian Federation managed to defend the position of the atom as carbon-free energy and natural gas as a transition fuel from heavy hydrocarbons such as oil to lighter, greener energy.

In 2024, we agreed on money: US$300 billion per year, the price that developed countries should provide to developing countries to grow their economies, so that they do not suffer from the technologies that are used to limit greenhouse gas emissions. In 2025 in Brazil, we will be discussing how to adapt to climate change. 

Tell us how climate change is affecting Russia’s economy? Which sectors are currently trying to fight back and what measures are they taking? Do you consider them sufficient?

On the one hand, climate change causes us, for example, to spend more energy on space heating to create comfort for people and develop the economy. On the other hand, industries such as agriculture and forestry benefit more from climate change. There is another point: the Northern Sea Route, which is a good transport artery, is becoming more accessible precisely because the climate is warming.

There is a need to adjust approaches in sectors such as construction, because permafrost is subject to melting. We evaluate these processes, but we need to change the requirements for technologies. We have a rather systematic approach to this, we have plans to adapt to climate change, which are multilevel in nature.

In your opinion, do business and the government cooperate in any way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere? How is this being done?

This is part of the state policy, and we have carbon regulation formats for this purpose. The state gives businesses the opportunity to implement climate projects. In fact, climate projects are business actions that are aimed at either reducing greenhouse gas emissions or, let’s say, planting trees. We, as the Ministry of Economic Development, as a regulator, over the last two years have done almost the entire regulatory architecture for the implementation of these projects.

How does the carbon market work? What international projects in this direction are promising?

This is, first of all, the legal and regulatory framework that we created in order for these climate projects to physically exist. To do this, it was necessary to develop criteria for these projects and create a system that would evaluate them. These are specific people, specific organisation, specific methodologies that had to be shaped accordingly. We have a register of these climate projects and a register of carbon units. Further they can trade or offset the carbon footprint of the products of the same organisation that created them.

Are there any results of the action of this market already?

The market is still developing, but nevertheless, we have already had 40 projects registered in the last two years. This is actually more than 30 million carbon units already produced and partially sold.

Is Russia a pioneer in this respect, or has this experience been learned from our neighbours and partners in other associations, for example, the SCO or BRICS?

Indeed, we are now building this kind of interaction with the SCO, BRICS, and the EAEU. Here, we need reliable, science-based information that, on the one hand, allows us to evaluate climate projects, and on the other hand, we strengthen our position on international platforms in this way. It is due to the fact that we are implementing the most important innovative projects of national importance that we are creating our own system for monitoring climate-active substances and can already use these results and share them with colleagues from other countries.

Tell us about the Sakhalin experiment to limit greenhouse gas emissions. What results have already been achieved and have the objectives changed in connection with the interim results obtained?

The point of this experiment is that the Sakhalin Oblast should achieve carbon neutrality in 2025. We are now experimenting with emission quotas for enterprises. 35 commercial legal entities are taking part in this. Based on the results of calculations, we have distributed quotas for these organisations. If an enterprise has emitted more than its quota, it has two ways: first, it can compensate for it by buying carbon units. But if the organisation did nothing, then it will just pay a fine. It is very important for us now, as a ministry, to see how this process will be done, how this technology will be used, what difficulties we may encounter here. This is the essence of the experiment.

As for international cooperation in combating climate change, how would you assess the current level of cooperation with such associations as the SCO or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations? 

First of all, we are building our plans on the adjustment and mutual linking of carbon unit markets. The conference that took place in Baku this year contributed a lot to this process, because we finally agreed on how we can trade carbon units across borders. The second point is adaptation activities. The third is mutual exchange of various kinds of data, primarily scientific data. Russia is open here, because our scientific base is one of the strongest in the world, and we can share with our neighbours the experience we have, both in terms of climate change and adaptation.

How is the cooperation on sharing experience with the BRICS countries in terms of energy transition and combating greenhouse gas emissions currently being carried out?

The cooperation with the BRICS countries is more intensive. Taking into account Russia’s chairmanship of BRICS in 2024, very many things have been done. First of all, this is the platform that we are creating together, which is related to the fact that we can share scientific data, different results. […]

Energy development, so-called green, renewable energy sources, we also have certain experience and opportunities here, and we are setting up our own technological production. There are different ways of cooperation with the BRICS countries, and all of them are named, we know them in the projects we sign together.

African Times published this article in partnership with International Media Network TV BRICS