Forest carbon offsets in Russia: current legal infrastructure

Abstract

Achieving "climate neutrality" (or "net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions") remains as one of the most relevant targets worldwide. Yet, today, when countries implement the Paris Agreement into their national legal systems, important practical questions arise and call for solutions both at the international and national levels. For the Russian Federation, the role of forests in achieving "carbon neutrality", the creation of conditions in the country for increasing the absorption of GHG by forests, the implementation of forest climate projects (FCP) in the country and the recognition at the international level of the results achieved by such projects - are of particular significance. The purpose of this study is to analyze the state of the current legal infrastructure in the Russian Federation on the implementation of the FCP. Such projects serve as a supplementary tool for achieving "carbon neutrality", i. e. they only help to offset those GHG emissions that cannot be avoided by technological solutions. At the international level, the popularity and the number of such projects are growing, as well as prices for emission reduction units issued during the implementation of such projects in international carbon markets are rising. Paradoxically, in the Russian Federation, despite the colossal absorbing potential of forests, tundra, agricultural lands, there is almost no FCP. The study identifies legal issues that (up until now) have been holding back a more active implementation of the FCP in the country, and proposes solutions that, in the opinion of the authors, may contribute to the launch of an entire "industry" of the FCP in the Russian Federation in the future.