PhosAgro and RAS will monitor greenhouse gases in the Vologda region

The Government of the Vologda region, the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), and PhosAgro have agreed to create a regional system for monitoring greenhouse gases, which will be an important step towards carbon neutrality in the Vologda region.

The creation of the system was launched during the meeting of the Governor of the Vologda region Oleg Kuvshinnikov, RAS President Alexander Sergeev, and PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev, held at the Cherepovets complex of Apatit (part of PhosAgro).

The working meeting marked the beginning of the practical implementation of the trilateral agreement on cooperation in controlling climate change and minimizing the environmental impact, which was signed during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

In July, within the framework of the conference “Carbon Neutrality — a New Trend in the Global Economy”, PhosAgro and RAS announced the launch of a project to create a carbon farm in the Vologda region, which will have an estimated carbon sequestration capacity of 0.7 million tons per year. This project will become an integral part of the creation of the regional system for monitoring greenhouse gases in the Vologda region.

“The ultimate goal of this project is to create a national greenhouse gas monitoring system throughout the entire country. Our task is to prove that our country is absolutely carbon neutral. We decided to start the implementation of the project by building a regional monitoring system, taking one of the regions as an experiment. And we received a positive response from PhosAgro and the Vologda region. This is very helpful because the Vologda region represents the model of Russia, as it has powerful industries, huge forests, and large-scale farms. The Vologda region will have a chance to receive a special carbon certificate, which is especially important for the products manufactured here amid the global fight against greenhouse gases and the introduction of carbon duties,” said RAS President Alexander Sergeev during the meeting.

Governor of the Vologda region Oleg Kuvshinnikov emphasized that decarbonization is becoming a priority area for the leading enterprises in the region: “The Vologda region is an economically powerful territorial entity of Russia that has several largest exporting enterprises, metals and chemical companies, which supply their products to dozens of countries around the world. Our joint task is to prevent the introduction of protective duties on our products by confirming their environmental friendliness. By signing a trilateral agreement between the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Government of the Vologda region, and PhosAgro, we are launching a pilot project to decarbonize the economy, creating a regional system for monitoring greenhouse gases.”

The Governor added that leading scientists and experts from foreign countries have been invited to the working group.

“We are preparing a trilateral letter signed by the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Governor of the Vologda region, and PhosAgro CEO to the Prime Minister of Russia Mikhail Mishustin to support our pilot project aimed at creating a national greenhouse gases monitoring network. Together with the scientific community, we need to confirm that Russia is not only carbon-neutral but also deposits carbon, and we can be proud of our country named the “world’s lungs,” said Oleg Kuvshinnikov.

PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev thanked the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Governor of the Vologda region for the creation of a union to implement a pilot project for carbon neutrality of the territory and industrial products manufactured in the Vologda region. By combining the unique interdisciplinary competencies of RAS, PhosAgro’s climate policy aimed at reducing the carbon footprint and the green vector of the development of the Vologda region, we will ensure the success of the project.

“As the leader in the total supply of mineral fertilizers for Russian farmers and a global player in the eco-efficient fertilizer market, we strive for carbon neutrality of our products. Based on the pilot project of a regional system for monitoring greenhouse gases, we will develop standard solutions, which will allow replicating the accumulated experience throughout the country in terms of achieving carbon neutrality in both regions and products. This will help to conclusively determine the “green” status of a product and highlight its carbon preference in the market,” summed up Andrey Guryev.