Putin Skipped The COP26 Climate Talks. Why Russia’s Biggest Industries Decided To Go.

Putin Skipped The COP26 Climate Talks. Why Russia’s Biggest Industries Decided To Go.

Vladimir Putin superimposed over the Russian Arctic. It's not that Vladimir Putin doesn't believe in climate change. Good grief, in Europe, that would be sacrilegious, after all, and the Russian leader still has to talk to these people on a regular basis. During this year's Valdai Discussion Club, an annual meeting in Sochi, Putin actually did talk about climate change impacting businesses and how Russian companies needed to prepare for that. But he was absent from the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, probably because he didn't want to get lectured by the West on how to use his country's fossil fuels responsibly, all the while begging and blaming the Russians for not flooding them with oil and gas. So while the Russian official government's position is – yes, climate change is a risk, but we are still going to drill for hydrocarbons in the Arctic Circle and you will buy it from us – Russian heavy industry is telling the Europeans that they're on their side. They want to save the planet. They want to be less polluting and indeed are investing to that end. So, please, dear European bankers, don't divest in our enterprises and stop giving us loans.