The Federation Council Speaker delivered a report during the green energy session at the G20 Parliamentary Forum in India.
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko spoke at the Sustainable Energy Transition session during the 9th Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit in New Delhi.
The Speaker noted that the transition to green energy is a radical transformation of the global technological paradigm. “This means, first of all, that it must not become a tool of competition and discrimination. And second, it is only possible with guaranteed access to technology and financial resource for less developed countries.”
She said that the priority task was to implement the 7th sustainable development goal and provide universal access to cheap, reliable and modern energy sources through sustainable social and economic development. In this regard, Valentina Matvienko emphasised that the process of transitioning to green energy should be managed based on a democratic multipolar approach, and not by a separate group of countries that try to monopolise and politicise this issue.
The Speaker urged her G20 colleagues not to use energy as a geopolitical weapon or a tool for blackmail or restraining development. “Combating climate change is a common challenge for all humankind which is too important to be burdened with political interests and egoism. The attempts to carve up the global energy market have led to energy price hikes and scarcity. It has reached the point of overtly encouraging the sabotage of energy infrastructure facilities (the explosion at the Nord Stream, and others), whose investigation was closed for political reasons. The so-called sanctions, which are in fact tools of economic pressure and unfair competition, are having a negative impact on the market. This is a blind alley, and eventually the initiators will suffer from their own sanctions.”
Valentina Matvienko said that the Russian Federation, being one of the largest energy exporters and a recognised leader in the nuclear sector, strictly adheres to its obligations as part of the Paris Agreement. According to the Speaker, by 2060, Russia hopes to reach a strategic goal: to achieve full carbon neutrality by developing new types of nuclear reactors, reducing emissions from traditional energy production, and improving the production of renewable energy and hydroelectric power.
“Russia understands its responsibility for global energy security. We are ready to provide the world with cheap and clean energy if there are no artificial barriers on the way to the consumer. Our principles of global energy dialogue include fairness, non-discrimination and equal cooperation,” the Federation Council Speaker noted.
Valentina Matvienko also reminded the audience that Russia promotes its energy agenda through parliamentary diplomacy. In particular, the Federation Council is the organiser of the Nevsky International Ecological Congress, an important platform for sharing experience with environmental legislation. She invited her colleagues to take part in the congress.
First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Andrei Turchak, Federation Council Deputy Speaker Konstantin Kosachev and State Duma deputies also took part in the session on the development of green energy as part of the G20 Parliamentary Forum.