French Ambassador Expresses Hope Russia Will Ratify Paris Agreement This Year

Sumaira FH Published February 15, 2019 | 02:17 PM

Sylvie-Agnes Bermann, the French ambassador to Russia expressed hope during a session of the Russian Investment Forum on Friday that Russia would ratify the Paris climate agreement by the end of this year

SOCHI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th February, 2019) Sylvie-Agnes Bermann, the French ambassador to Russia expressed hope during a session of the Russian Investment Forum on Friday that Russia would ratify the Paris climate agreement by the end of this year.

"Russia played an important role in the adoption of the Paris Agreement at COP21 and I hope it will ratify the Paris Agreement in 2019," Bermann said.

Bermann added that the adoption of the Paris Agreement was also an achievement of non-governmental actors.

"The adoption of the Paris Agreement will not have been possible without formidable mobilization of companies and civil society. It was not only about the state," Bermann said.

The ambassador added, that France and Russia should work on growing bilateral green energy projects.

"There are many Russian and foreign entrepreneurs that today will tell you that producing greener is not only an opportunity, it has now become a requirement. So that's something that Russia and France should share.

That's very important and cooperation in the field of energy is important for our economies, and our links should be tightening on those projects and we should not let other countries threaten them and our companies," Berman said.

According to the ambassador, issues related to climate change and new green technologies are core for the French-Russian intergovernmental cooperation agreement in the field of environment.

"I hope there will be lots of opportunities in 2019 and in particular in many strategic areas, from energy to space and so it will have a lot to do together," the diplomat said.

The Paris climate deal, created within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, went into force on November 4, 2016. It has been ratified by 184 of the 197 parties to the accord. The deal aims at keeping the increase in average global temperature at below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels by means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.