"MOSCOW — Even as large swaths of the Siberian forest have burned in wildfires — made increasingly worse by climate change — the Kremlin has focused its strategy to slash emissions on the region’s trees.

President Vladimir Putin announced this month that Russia “will strive” for carbon neutrality by 2060 — its most ambitious climate goal.

But how Russia plans to accomplish that has been met with criticism and skepticism.

Putin claimed this year that Russia’s vast territory, especially its forests, could neutralize “several billion [metric] tons” of carbon dioxide emissions — a figure climatologists say is unrealistic and undermines the viability of his carbon-neutrality pledge."

Isabelle Khurshudyan and Mary Ilyus report for the Washington Post October 27, 2021. [2]