Russia said on Saturday it was studying whether its gold reserves frozen after the invasion of Ukraine could be used to finance the climate damage fund to help developing countries.
In what appeared to be an attempt by Moscow to do “everything possible” to prevent the West from seizing its frozen reserves, Russia’s climate envoy told the COP28 summit that the move would help close the gap between developed and developing countries. development when confronting climate change.
An agreement is unlikely to be reached. The West froze about half of Russia’s international reserves (more than $300 billion) after Moscow sent its armed forces to Ukraine in February last year.
Kiev wants revenue from frozen Russian assets to be used to help rebuild the country, something many in the West want to see happen, but the process has been complicated by legal issues and possible future ramifications of the move.
“We are ready to announce that Russia is studying the possibility of voluntarily contributing to the loss and damage fund from frozen national gold reserves in the hands of international organizations,” said Ruslan Edelgeriev, Russian climate representative, on the main stage of the COP28 in Dubai.
“It is a step dictated by the need to close the gap between developing and developed countries,” he added.
Source: Ambito
