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The Politics of Emissions Reporting: Russia Seeks International Legitimization of Its Claims to Sovereign Ukrainian Territory

The reporting of greenhouse gas emissions to the United Nations is a seemingly innocuous, bureaucratic task undertaken annually by all developed nations. However, Russia has utilized emissions reporting as a tool in seeking to legitimize its claims over illegally annexed Ukrainian territory. In today’s blog, we will expand on our discussion of the dispute between Russia and Ukraine over emissions reporting, and discuss how the United Nations’ handling of the situation has tacitly lent legitimacy to Russian territorial aggression in Ukraine.