Russian meat producers opposed the introduction of greenhouse gas reporting

According to their letter, the draft government decree “On Amendments to Government Decree of the Russian Federation dated April 20, 2022 No. 707” (developed by the Ministry of Economic Development) supplements the greenhouse gas emissions reporting form with Section 13 - on emissions of such gases in agriculture.

The authors of the letter remind that current government regulations do not oblige agriculture to provide such reporting. In addition, agriculture is not a sector of the economy subject to assessment of the achievement of greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

According to the authors of the letter, the introduction of mandatory reporting in this area in relation to agriculture is unfounded, redundant and duplicative. “This reporting is meaningless, uninformative and useless from a carbon regulation perspective,” the letter says. Its authors report that tens of thousands of agricultural organizations and individual entrepreneurs, as well as millions of households, are involved in keeping animals in the country. Thus, according to Rosstat, in 2022, about 38% of the cattle population was on household farms. Large companies will be able to submit reporting, for which its formation will become an additional burden, increasing the administrative burden and cost of production, industry associations believe.

At the same time, private farms, the number of which exceeds 1.2 million in terms of keeping cattle alone, will not come into view. “As a result, the collected data cannot be considered representative in any way and cannot be used for anything,” the letter says.

According to industry unions, the inclusion of agriculture in greenhouse gas emissions reporting forms does not carry with it the prospect of regulating greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. “Neither in the European Union nor in other countries leading the climate agenda do mandatory mechanisms for reducing CO2 emissions apply to agriculture due to the low potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in this industry,” the letter says. “We should not forget about the huge social role of agriculture. The thesis in the explanatory note to the draft resolution that, along with greenhouse gas emissions in industrial sectors, greenhouse gases from livestock and crop production make a significant contribution to total greenhouse gas emissions is not justified and does not stand up to any criticism," they say They.

Referring to Rosstat data, the authors of the letter report that the share of agriculture in the structure of greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors of the economy excluding land use and forestry in 2021 was 5.6%, which is lower than in 2019 (5.9%). While industry (12%) and energy (77.9%) together form up to 90% of greenhouse gas emissions. If we calculate the share of the agro-industrial complex, taking into account land use, without which agriculture cannot be carried out, and forestry, then Russian agriculture does not generate greenhouse gases, but, on the contrary, absorbs up to 17% of these gases emitted by all sectors of the economy.

According to the authors of the letter, RUSSIA , where, according to FAO, the share of livestock farming in the climate impact is one of the lowest in the world, can double MEAT production without compromising the global ecology and climate. "In 25 years, by 2050, the demand for food , including meat , in the world will increase by 50%. Russia needs to actively participate in providing the planet's population with animal proteins, including replacing them on the EU , US and several other markets countries," the letter says.

The development of the domestic agro-industrial complex at an accelerated pace is also important due to the fact that “the ever-increasing role of our country in ensuring global food security is becoming a pretext for dirty political games and manipulations.” “Thus, the American Congress is considering the No Russia Agricultural Act bill , designed to support investment projects aimed at reducing the dependence of individual countries on goods from the Russian agricultural sector,” the letter recalls.

In this regard, the authors of the letter believe that Russian agriculture should be excluded from the draft greenhouse gas emissions reporting form.

As First Deputy HEAD of the Ministry of Economic Development Ilya Torosov commented on this appeal (his words were relayed by the department’s press service), when finalizing the draft government resolution, the fact that agriculture (including forestry) not only emits but also absorbs greenhouse gases will be taken into account.

According to him, carbon reporting by companies makes it possible to assess how Russia is moving towards carbon neutrality and decarbonization of existing production facilities. “Given this goal, it is important to take into account as many emitters as possible when collecting emissions reporting, since decarbonization of the economy is impossible without the participation of businesses at various levels,” he said.

Torosov recalled that in 2023, large industrial enterprises that emit greenhouse gases of 150 thousand tons of CO2 equivalent per year or more have already begun to provide mandatory reporting. From 2025, medium-sized enterprises operating in carbon-intensive sectors of the economy with emissions of more than 50 thousand tons of CO2 equivalent per year must also submit a report.

“This is a gradual expansion of the state emissions accounting system, which was laid down by the law on limiting greenhouse gas emissions in force since 2021. Ultimately, company reporting is synchronized with the data of the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory, thus ensuring the reliability of the data,” explained the first deputy minister.