OREANDA-NEWS. December 18, 2009.  Russia is ready to take part in a new global agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, the President declared. Russia is ready to set emission reduction targets and commit itself to an unprecedented reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of more than 30 billion tons between 1990 and 2020, which equates to a 25 percent drop in emissions over this period.

The President said that Russia will pursue its efforts to make its economy more energy efficient and reduce emissions regardless of whether or not a global agreement is reached. This is in Russia’s own interests, Mr Medvedev said, and other countries should apply this same principle.

Dmitry Medvedev said that a global agreement should take into account the part forests play as the main absorbers of greenhouse gases, and should also set acceptable conditions for transferring modern technology to developing countries. The agreement should be universal and based on the principles of fairness and shared responsibility. At the same time, different countries should bear different shares of the responsibility according to their development levels.

Ultimately, implementing measures to protect the climate will help to resolve not only global environmental issues but social and economic problems too, and help the world to achieve the millennium development goals set out in the UN programme that was adopted in 2000.

President Medvedev said he hopes that agreement will be reached soon on a road map that will lead to a global agreement.