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Russia's claim of emissions in annexed Ukraine regions draws demonstrations at COP29

Russia has included the areas it occupies in Ukraine in its recent greenhouse gas inventory report to the United Nations, drawing protests from Ukrainian authorities and activists at the COP29 environment top this week.

The move by Moscow comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin eyes potential peace offer settlements with inbound U.S. President Donald Trump that could choose the fate of large swathes of territory.

We see that Russia is utilizing global platforms to legalise their actions, to legalise their profession of our area, Ukraine's Deputy Environment Minister Olga Yukhymchuk told Reuters.

She said Ukraine is in touch with officials from the United Nations Structure Convention on Environment Change (UNFCCC), the U.N.'s main environment body, to ask it to fix the disagreement.

Officials representing the Russian foreign ministry and the UNFCCC did not respond to requests for comment sent on Thursday.

At concern is Russia's National Inventory Report of greenhouse gas emissions for 2022, which Moscow sent to the UNFCCC on Nov. 8. In the submission, evaluated , Russia said it could just offer information for 85 out of 89 of its territories due. to the lack of standard data on land use for the areas. of the Donetsk Individuals's Republic, Luhansk People's Republic,. Zaporizhzhia and Kherson areas, annexed in September 2022.

Russia had already consisted of emissions from Ukraine's Crimea. area, annexed in 2014, in its last couple of reporting submissions. to the UNFCCC. It likewise included Crimea's land development strategies. in a report to the U.N. Global Biodiverity Structure in 2020.

Ukrainian Environment Minister Svitlana Grynchuk raised the. problem in a speech to delegates at the COP29 top earlier this. week, saying Russia's reporting on Ukraine territories. weakens the stability of global climate efforts.

Yukhymchuk informed Reuters this issue is based on the risk of. double-counting of emissions over territories that together. exceed the size of Portugal and Azerbaijan.

It will bring us to a point that we do not achieve any of. our goals if we do not have correct reporting under the Paris. Agreement, she stated.

Nikki Reisch, director of the Center for International. Environmental Law's Climate & & Energy Program, stated the disagreement. shown how geopolitical turmoil was diverting the world's. attention from the work of battling worldwide warming.

I think that suggests the times, stated Reisch on the. sidelines of the COP29 summit.

We're living amidst widespread conflicts, which is. certainly contaminating these talks.

Christina Voigt, a law professor at the University of Oslo,. stated Russia's reporting on Ukraine emissions broke Ukraine's. sovereignty and might be illegal.

Declaring emissions is perhaps not illegal - but declaring. emissions as if they were from their own territory, while they. are in fact produced on another country's territory, is a. unilateral declaration in violation of the global legal. status of that area, Voigt stated.

She stated Russia's claim of the annexed lands' emissions. could become much more troublesome if Moscow eventually claims. emissions decreases on these lands and provides them as offset. credits to carbon markets.

This would certainly be an unlawful appropriation of a great. coming from the other state, she stated.

(source: Reuters)