The new oil of the 21st century: futurist discusses Russia’s climate potential at the National Centre RUSSIA

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A new session of the original series "Dialogues about the Future" at the National Centre RUSSIA shed light on pressing global climate issues. Key conclusions from the discussion were shared by the event’s expert speaker — futurist and co-founder of the venture fund Digital Evolution Ventures, Yevgeny Kuznetsov.

According to the expert, a positive takeaway is that by overcoming crises and challenges, we develop technologies that make our lives significantly more advanced, prosperous, comfortable, efficient, and sustainable. However, Yevgeny Kuznetsov believes that achieving this requires a fundamental rethink of investment priorities in this field.

"Historically, Russia has had a number of achievements and groundwork related to influencing local and potentially global climate. However, we severely underestimate this industry and therefore fail to invest in it. I believe that in the coming years we must reassess the situation — and then this could become one of Russia’s major export sectors in the decades ahead," said Yevgeny Kuznetsov.

Taking his idea further, the expert provided specific examples confirming the powerful potential of the country in the climate industry.

"For instance, we have the world’s best — and possibly only — experiment in transforming tundra into tundra-steppe. This holds tremendous potential for monetising СО₂ absorption, which we are currently missing out on. We need to rethink the present in order to lay the foundation for new large-scale industries that, in future, could rival the oil and gas sector," Yevgeny Kuznetsov concluded.

The "Dialogues about the Future" expert discussion series is part of the lead-up to the 2nd International Symposium "Inventing the Future," which will take place at the National Centre RUSSIA in October 2025. The core theme of the upcoming event is to bring together the world’s leading thinkers to co-create positive future scenarios. Information about upcoming sessions is available on the National Centre RUSSIA website under the "Events" section.