Russia has just crossed an unexpected course. In a context of generalized climate change, central power chooses a trajectory that questions. The decree signed on August 6, 2025 by Vladimir Putin fixes a new CAP for national greenhouse gas emissions.
A 20 % recorded ceiling: Russia changes climate cap
Wednesday August 6, 2025, Vladimir Putin signed a decree authorizing a 20 % increase in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 2035compared to the levels of 2021. The objective now displayed by the Kremlin is to cap the annual discharges of carbon dioxide (CO2) at 2 billion tonnes, against 1.7 billion measured in 2021 according to the figures transmitted to the United Nations (UN). A choice assumed by the Russian president, who highlights the capacities to absorb carbon of national forests to justify this level.
The official text evokes a “rAuduction of emissions from 65 to 67 % compared to 1990 », A base of comparison deemed misleading by several specialists. Indeed, Russian emissions had dropped more than half in the decade following the collapse of the Soviet Union, due to a major industrial withdrawal.
Behind this decision is looming a structural factor: Russia’s economic dependence on oil and natural gas exports. Opposed to the gradual abandonment of fossil fuels during the previous climatic summits, Russia makes a dissonant voice heard in international negotiations.
The Russian Head of State advances the argument of ” vast Russian forests that absorb carbone »to compensate for increasing emissions, as recalled Libération In his article of August 6, 2025. But for many climate defenders, this reasoning does not face the environmental emergency.
An incompatible trajectory with the Paris Agreement
Russia is one of the signatories of the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to 1.5 ° C compared to pre -industrial levels. However, the new Kremlin’s climatic orientations seem to be clearly away from it. Despite the announcement of a carbon neutrality targeted for 2060, environmental NGOs denounce a lack of ambition, even a historic misinterpretation.
The figure of 2 billion tonnes of CO2 per year is certainly below the record of 3.1 billion recorded in 1990, but it marks a clear break with international dynamics. Especially since, according to official data from the Russian state meteorological service, “theIn Russia heats up 2.5 times faster than the world average ».
While the European Union is targeting a 55 % reduction in its emissions by 2030, Russia takes a divergent path. The decree of August 6 is perceived by climate specialists as a political maneuver more than an environmental commitment. Some denounce an instrumentalization of figures: Using the year 1990 as a reference makes it possible to hide the actual magnitude of the increase in relation to the current situation.