Putin Wastes No Words on COP26

Nov. 2, 2021—Russian President Putin’s participation in the COP 26 conference consisted of one brief video prepared for the special panel on forest and land use, whose text was exactly 224 words long, including the requisite greetings, best wishes, and thank-you’s. His sole point was that because “the conservation of forests and other natural ecosystems is a key component of international efforts to address global warming and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases,” and, given that Russia accounts for around 20% of the world’s forestland, Russia will rely, among other things, on the forests’ “significant capacity to absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen” to reach carbon-neutrality by 2060. How? Bettering forest management, fighting illegal logging and forest fires, and expanding reforestation areas. He did add his expectation that the final document from that plan can “facilitate closer partnerships between all interested States in forest conservation.”