The first ever climate case in Russia was filed before the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation demanding that the Russian government protect its citizens from the risk of future death or serious illness by keeping global emissions to 1.5-1.8C in accordance with its obligations under domestic and international law. The case is brought by a diverse group of Russian citizens who span the breadth of the country from Irkutsz, Murmansk and Keremovo regions to the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg. The group faces considerable risks in bringing such a claim against a background of ever-increasing oppressive domestic measures which have been wielded to silence opposition and civil society voices over many years and increasingly so in recent months. The difficulties are heightened by the inevitable overlap between the issues raised by Russia’s war in Ukraine and the inadequacy of Russia’s approach to climate change to the extent that recent reports allege Russia to be burning £8 million of gas a day. Many climate activists are also anti-war activists in a country where it is now a criminal offense to even describe Russian actions in Ukraine as a ‘war’ or ‘invasion’ and some are already paying a heavy price for their uncompromising bravery. Russia is the fourth biggest global emitter and has been known for some years to be heating at double the rate of the rest of the globe. In order to ensure that aggregate global emissions remain below 1.5C in 2100 and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, Russia must reduce its emissions by 36% before 2030. However, Russia’s current 2021 GHG strategy for the period to 2050 actually envisions GHG emissions rising rather than falling from 2119 million tons of CO 2 eq in 2019 to 2212 million tons of CO 2 eq in 2030. These emissions would align Russia with a temperature increase by 2100 of 4C compared to the pre-industrial global average temperature, ie. double the goal of the Paris Agreement. I would like to send a big climate love to this group of brave citizens who are actually putting their lives at risk in order to save our planet and humanity. EcoDefense is one among many others. Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/13/first-climate-lawsuit-russia-emissions