Brussels, 29/10/2008 (Agence Europe) -The delegation of MEPs from the climate committee of the European Parliament, visiting Moscow until 29 October to prepare for the UN conference of Poznan (1-12 December), has gleaned some encouraging signals from its talks with the committees of the Duma and the Federation Council in charge of climate issues, particularly the commitment taken by Moscow to reduce the energy intensity of the Russian economy by at least 40% between now and 2020 (compared to 2007 figures). This, however, is not enough. It is on the next stage - of binding commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the part of the Russian authorities - that the MEPs are now counting. And they have continuously reminded their opposite numbers of this.
"As a major industrialised commercial partner, Russia must play a vital and proactive role in reducing global emissions. I expect Russia to continue to be a strategic partner of the EU in climate issues, playing a leading role at the international conferences of Poznan and Copenhagen", stressed Vittorio Prodi (ALDE, Italy), the vice-president of the climate committee and head of the delegation.
This mission provided an opportunity for the MEPs to brief their Russian counterparts on recent progress on the Energy/Climate legislative package, currently being examined at the European Parliament and the Council.
Romana Jordan Cizelj (EPP-ED, Slovenia), a member of the delegation, notes that parliamentarians from both sides agreed to acknowledge the fact that energy security and the environment are fundamental pillars of sustainable development. "We support a policy based on differentiated sources of supply. The EU and Russia both have an interest in tackling the problems of the forests, agriculture and soil protection within climate negotiations", she added.
Both MEPs and members of the Russian Parliament also acknowledged the need to increase awareness among the citizens of the negative consequences of climate change, an issue they intend to tackle together.
The MEPs took the opportunity to visit an energy efficiency project and the Russian regional centre for the environment, and to meet NGOs and representatives of RosHydroMet (Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring). (A.N./transl.fl)