Russia and China team up against climate change

A Sino-Russian climate change research institute is to launch in Vladivostok next week.

Scientists at the centre, which will be inaugurated on 20 September, will conduct offshore research in the far eastern and Arctic seas, the Russian Federal Agency of Scientific Organisations said in a statement this week.

The centre will focus on the exploration of underwater mineral resources, natural disaster forecasting, the role of oceans in climate change, the North and South Poles, and assessing the environmental impact of human ocean activity. It is the result of many years of scientific collaboration between the two countries in the field of ocean and climate research, the statement said.

In July, the Brussels-based think-tank Bruegel published a report urging the EU to collaborate more with Chinese researchers. The EU risks falling behind in research and innovation as China is already pushing ahead in fields such as nanoscience and renewable energy, the report warned.