Russia joined the US late on Tuesday in meeting a UN deadline to deliver its initial offer for a UN climate change deal due to be signed off in Paris later this year.
The Kremlin suggested it could slash greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30% on 1990 levels by 2030, although it said the level of its ambition would depend on offers other countries put forward.
In a statement on the UN climate body website it said this goal would “allow the Russian Federation to step on the path of low-carbon development compatible with the long-term objective of the increase in global temperature below 2C”.
WWF-Russia spokesperson Alexey Kokorin said the plan was “too conservative” and questioned the role of the country’s forests, which act as vast carbon sinks, in its proposal.
“Russia should reconsider its climate plans as submitted to the UN when the current national economic crisis is past; they should agree to more ambitious mitigation targets for 2025 and 2030,” he said.
Finnish climate negotiator Matti Kahra also called on Russia to clarify how its boreal forests would be used to meet its overall goal.
“Unlimited forest sink use would wipe away 24% of their total emissions away instantly,” he tweeted