Could Russia be changing course on climate change? CSSN scholar Indra Overland offers insights on initial steps the country might take on climate.

“The first is to work toward its own domestic carbon pricing system. It’s not a near-term prospect, but given Russia’s track record of competent and pragmatic financial administration, as Indra Overland, an energy politics specialist at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, argues, it is possible — and an effective way of keeping the cash in Russia.

The second is supporting investment in green sectors that don’t upend the system but boost technological capacity, a major concern for Moscow, and make money — say, renewable energy, for which Russia has huge potential given its vast size. Even better, hydrogen, especially if low-carbon, which could have a degree of continuity with the existing energy structure.”