According to Greenpeace, Russia is already leaking cash through its melting permafrost and losing an estimated 4 per cent to 6 per cent of GDP dealing with climate change. "Nearly 65 per cent of Russia's territory is permafrost and over 70 per cent of gas and oil deposits are here," said Igor Podgorny from Greenpeace. "Oil and gas companies are having to spend additional money to fix the ground near their infrastructure." Accusations have been levelled at Russia in some blogs and news reports that the authorities are supporting global warming as it could open up new shipping lanes, as well as provide access to previously inaccessible oil and gas reserves in the Arctic. President Dmitry Medvedev, however, has sought to tackle this burning issue, promising cuts in dangerous emissions of 22 per cent to 25 per cent by 2020 (from 1990 levels) ahead of his visit to Copenhagen on Dec. 17-18. Podgorny agreed it was good that steps are being taken but said Moscow should try to achieve the target by 2015, while other critics pointed out that the proposed cuts are not large, given the country's current predicted economic growth.
"The level of emissions is not as great because of the economic decline in the 1990s," said Yaroslav Lissovolik, chief economist at Deutsche Bank. The 1990 level was taken as the starting point for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which participants at Copenhagen are attempting to find a successor to, and could prove beneficial to Russia's economy. The country built up a mound of carbon credits from the Kyoto Protocol thanks to the collapse of Soviet heavy industry and a new deal could see more heading towards Moscow.
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