Russia’s SIBUR and Other BRICS Enterprises Committed to Climate Agenda

BRICS nations are actively pursuing climate strategies, with major companies setting carbon footprint reduction targets. India and China have achieved or set new emission reduction goals, while Russia pilots a mandatory carbon market. The integration of cross-border carbon markets is proposed to accelerate global climate action. Companies across BRICS continue to pursue their climate strategies. Major industrial players across BRICS states have set targets to curb their carbon footprint. Brazil’s Braskem has developed a low-carbon polyethylene grade based on sugarcane ethanol. In India, the climate agenda is driven most actively by diversified conglomerates such as Reliance Industries, while in Russia the leading player is SIBUR, a major producer of polymers. South Africa aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, China and Russia by 2060, and India by 2070. This year, China, Russia, and South Africa updated their medium-term emission-reduction goals, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). India’s emissions intensity has declined by over 36% since 2005, and non-fossil sources now account for more than half of our total electric power installed capacity (currently around 256 GW), an NDC target achieved five years ahead of our 2030 goal. Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav told COP30. India will announce its revised NDCs for 2035 and its first Biennial Transparency Report on schedule. China—whose economy is still rapidly expanding—has, for the first time, set a quantitative target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions: by 2035, they should be 7–10% below peak levels. Russia currently operates only a voluntary carbon market, but one region, Sakhalin, has piloted a mandatory system. This year, Sakhalin achieved carbon neutrality, and the government is now considering extending the experiment to other regions. Sakhalin-based companies, for instance, purchased carbon units from SIBUR, Russia’s largest manufacturer of synthetic materials. SIBUR has been actively modernizing its facilities to cut the carbon intensity of production. Independent verification of its climate projects enables the company to issue enough carbon units not only for internal needs but also for the wider carbon market during COP30, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva proposed integrating carbon markets at the global level to speed progress towards the Paris Agreement’s goals. Creating a cross-border carbon market would indeed make sense. Global temperatures have already surpassed the 1.5°C threshold set under the Paris Agreement. Any further increase could pose serious risks to food security and to the survival of people living in regions with extreme climates. Against this backdrop, BRICS nations are not only sticking to their emission-reduction plans but are increasingly positioning themselves as examples for the rest of the world. Combating global warming requires joint action from all nations. Integrating carbon markets—and thereby globalizing economic incentives that push corporations to cut emissions—could become a pivotal tool in achieving that goal.