Sakhalin Region achieves carbon neutrality - governor

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK. Aug 4 (Interfax) - Sakhalin Region has carried out President Vladimir Putin's order to achieve carbon neutrality ahead of schedule, the eastern Russian region's governor, Valery Limarenko said at the Islands of Sustainable Development: Climate Aspect international forum that concluded on Sakhalin Island this past weekend.

"Our region is the pilot staging ground for the climate experiment. We reported its results at the form. The main result is that Sakhalin Region achieved carbon neutrality. According to data from [federal environmental monitoring service] Rosgidromet, we have become the first region in Russia where the absorption of greenhouse gases exceeds their emissions. The president's order has been carried out," Limarenko was reported as saying by the regional government's press service.

"Today Sakhalin is in eighth place among the country's regions by environmental wellbeing. And we have received economic and social benefits," he added.

He recalled that Sakhalin received a record 350 billion rubles of investment, and in the course of the climate experiment the region "rose to fourth place in the rating of investment appeal and is holding this position."

"We achieved economic and environmental effectiveness with simple management decisions," Limarenko said.

"Now the region must decide whether [carbon neutrality] is a value for it. Are the region and businesses prepared to maintain carbon neutrality, a balance between greenhouse gas emissions and absorption in the long term. If other regions are interested in scaling the experiment, we're prepared to support them and work through this issue," Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov was reported as saying at the forum's plenary session.

Forum participants said that Sakhalin is the testing ground for comprehensive carbon regulation, with emission quotas, mandatory verification of companies' carbon reporting and active involvement of the region in a program to introduce energy efficient technology, gasification of the housing and utilities sector and conversion of transport to natural gas, which reduce harmful atmospheric emissions.

In the course of the experiment, the region managed to reduce the time it takes to prepare a greenhouse gas cadaster by half, and to forecast emissions and set quotas the region was the first in Russia to use expanded carbon reporting and companies' business plans for the period of the experiment, the press service said.

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