MOSCOW, Nov. 2 (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin has said protecting forests is vital to tackle climate change and that Russia will rely on its own vast forests to meet emissions commitments , speaking in a pre-recorded video broadcast during the COP26 Climate Speaks Tuesday.

Putin, whose absence from the UN talks in Glasgow is seen as a setback to their breakthrough chances, said Moscow supports a draft joint declaration on forests and land use in the talks.

“I am convinced that the conservation of forests and other natural ecosystems is a key part of international efforts to combat global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” he said, according to a transcript. of the Kremlin.

Russia, the world’s fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is a major producer and exporter of hydrocarbons, and the promotion of greener forms of energy is seen as a serious challenge for the Russian economy.

Putin said last month that Russia would aim for carbon neutrality by 2060, a decade later than the 2050 deadline, climatologists say, if the worst impacts of global warming are to be avoided.

Putin said 20% of the world’s forests are in Russia and that Moscow is investing to conserve these forest lands, thus pushing back against illegal logging and wildfires.

In August, it was hit by some of its worst forest fires to date, with fires in the diamond-producing region of Yakutia spewing greenhouse gases. Read more

“Russia is committed to achieving a carbon neutral economy by 2060 at the latest and relies, among other things, on the unique natural resource of its forest ecosystems and their significant capacity to absorb carbon dioxide and to produce oxygen, ”Putin said.

“We are taking the most serious and vigorous measures to conserve them, by improving forest management, combating illegal logging and forest fires, increasing the area of ​​reforestation and steadily increasing funding to these purposes, ”he said.

Reporting by Tom Balmforth; edited by Barbara Lewis

Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.