Will the heat-wave and drought that created so much havoc in Russia this summer cause the leadership in that country to take climate change seriously? The answer is important: Russia is the third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases globally, behind only China and the US. Yet Russia’s attitude to climate change to date has been cavalier, at best.
Indeed, until recently its leaders seemed to believe climate change would be beneficial. Warmer weather would open up the Arctic’s mineral wealth, create new shipping routes along its northern coasts, and extend agriculture into infertile areas. At a conference in 2003, Vladimir Putin, then president, even said global warming would merely mean that “we Russians will spend less on fur coats”.
This summer’s disasters – in which the country lost some 25 per cent of its grain production – should have brought home the naivete of this view. No one can say with certainty that the fires were influenced by climate change. Yet they are the sort of disasters that lie ahead if warming is not held in check.