Russian, Norwegian premiers discuss energy cooperation

Russian, Norwegian premiers discuss energy cooperation

NOVO-OGARYOVO, Moscow region. July 21 (Interfax) - The Russian and Norwegian prime ministers discussed trade and business cooperation between their countries, including contacts in the energy sector, over the phone on Wednesday, the Russian premier's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"A telephone conversation took place between Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of Norway Jens Stoltenberg, who addressed key issues of bilateral trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Norway with a focus on cooperation in the energy sector," Peskov said.

The telephone conversation was held at Norway's initiative, he said.

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12:23 21/07/2011ALL NEWS

21/7 Tass 34

UNITED NATIONS, July 21 (Itar-Tass) — The issue of global climate change requires urgent attention of the international community, but does not deserve to be included on the agenda of the UN Security Council, Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Alexander Pankin confirmed this principled stance of the Russian Federation.

Speaking at an open debate on climate at the UN Security Council on Wednesday, the Russian diplomat called the readiness announced by Moscow to reduce by 2020 greenhouse gas emissions by 10-25 percent, compared to 1990 as part of a new universal climate agreement, the “evidence Russia’s constructive policy in this sphere.” From Russia’s point of view, “the framework for addressing change issues that has formed within the UN makes it possible to adequately respond to emerging threats in this sphere,” Pankin noted. “We are also convinced that the priority role in this belongs to and should continue to belong to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as a universal mechanism to combat global climate change,” the representative of the Russian Federation said. “FCCC has the necessary and sufficient instruments to develop both an effective international climate regime for a long term and also concrete measures to respond quickly to new challenges in this area.”

According to Pankin, Russia is “sceptical about the practical value of recurring attempts to put the issue of the threat of climate change to international peace and security on the Security Council agenda.” From Moscow’s viewpoint, involvement of the UN Security Council in the regular review of climate change issues “will not create any added value, and can only cause another round of politicisation of the issue and the exacerbation of mutual standoff of countries, which is highly undesirable at present, after a successful conference in Cancun and on the eve of the Durban conference.”

Despite the variety of opinions expressed on Wednesday at the UN Security Council’s day-long debate on climate, a balanced position was also reflected in the statement of the Council, read out after the debate’s end by its Chairman - German Ambassador to the UN Peter Wittig that takes into account the views of all 15 Security Council members. In the statement the Security Council recognises, in particular, that the responsibility for sustainable development issues, including climate change, are within the competence of the UN General Assembly and Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). However, the Security Council asked the UN Secretary General in his reports to the Council, “where appropriate,” to report on the possible impact of climate change on security, when such problems are the driving forces behind the conflict, complicate the implementation of the mandates of the Council, or threaten the peace consolidation process. According to a UN press release, “The Security Council notes that in matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security under its consideration, conflict analysis and contextual information on, inter alia, possible security implications of climate change is important, when such issues are drivers of conflict, represent a challenge to the implementation of Council mandates or endanger the process of consolidation of peace. In this regard, the Council requests the Secretary-General to ensure that his reporting to the Council contains such contextual information.”

Opening the Security Council’s thematic debate on “Maintenance of international peace and security: the impact of climate change”, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, recalled that when the Security Council first had taken up the issue of climate change in 2007, he had argued that the debate was not only appropriate but essential. Today, he welcomed that the right debate was being held: on what the Council and all States could do to confront the “double- barrelled challenge” of climate change and international security, according to the release. “We must make no mistake,” he said. The facts were clear: climate change was real and accelerating in a dangerous manner. “It not only exacerbates threats to international peace and security; it is a threat to international peace and security”, he stressed. Extreme weather events were growing more frequent and intense in rich and poor countries alike, devastating lives, infrastructure and budgets — an “unholy brew” that could create dangerous security vacuums.

Events in Pakistan, the Pacific Islands, the Russian Federation, Western Europe, the United States, China and the Horn of Africa were just some examples that should remind the world of the urgency of the situation, he said, adding that just today, the United Nations had declared a state of famine in two regions of southern Somalia. Around the world, hundreds of millions of people were in danger of going short of food and water, undermining the most essential foundations of local, national, and global stability.

Russia’s Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin noted that the RF Government had always viewed combating climate change as a priority area for global cooperation, having advocated for a global instrument covering all countries and for more attention to be paid to the idea of Russian forests acting as carbon sinks. The Russian Federation’s policy had been seen in its decision to cut by 2020 greenhouse gas emissions by 10 to 25 percent over 1990 levels, within the framework of a new global climate agreement. In the transition to a low-carbon economy, the Russian Federation would give attention to nuclear energy.