How Yakutia Can Achieve Carbon Neutrality
The Sakhalin experiment proved the effectiveness of certain approaches. Now, its results need to be adapted for a vast region, comparable in area to India or Europe, with its unique ecosystems and economic structure.
February 24, 2026
Russia has mandated that six of its regions, encompassing territories of Arkhangelsk region, Yakutia, and Komi, to achieve carbon neutrality by 2026.
This scales up the experience of Sakhalin, which managed to achieve a balance between greenhouse gas emissions and absorption in 2025. Milena Milich, Special Representative of the Sakhalin Oblast Governor for Climate and Sustainable Development, and a key leader of the Sakhalin Climate Experiment, says that this is Russia’s first project aimed at achieving regional carbon neutrality.
«Climate policy must be integrated into territorial planning and economic strategies in the Far East and Arctic regions. The successful achievement of carbon neutrality in Sakhalin Oblast, along with the establishment of carbon regulation and trading frameworks, serves as a valuable precedent. It is encouraging to observe Yakutia’s efforts in setting its own climate goals and adapting management and methodological solutions to its specific circumstances»
The republic demonstrates a deliberate, scientifically grounded approach, similar to the one that proved itself at the start of our Sakhalin program in 2022-2028. At the same time, it is necessary to understand: what works for an island region requires further adaptation for Yakutia, comparable in area to India or Europe, with its own ecosystems and economic structure.
From the very beginning, we organized the Sakhalin experiment as a pilot project to test the fundamentals and approaches for achieving regional carbon neutrality. This already allows us to have a more extensive and deeper vision of the state of affairs in the economic, environmental, and social issues related to climate change.
- Assemble a «designer-build» program for Yakutia: encompassing applied science and corporate cases, as well as unique natural experiments like Pleistocene Park. Corporate experience also deserves attention, particularly that of leaders like ALROSA. This signals that big business in the Far East is ready not just to report on emissions, but to turn the climate agenda into a factor of competitiveness.
- Synchronize methodologies for accounting, verification, and reporting of emissions. The climate agenda does not tolerate isolation or administrative boundaries. What happens with fires or permafrost in Yakutia objectively affects all-Russian indicators.
- Exchange experiences and solutions: using the practices of Sakhalin and other regions, certainly. However, for example, the Yakut school of permafrost monitoring and ecosystem management in the permafrost zone represents competencies that many similar regions around the world lack entirely.
- Develop approaches to support investment projects with a positive climate impact and positive social impact.
- Through the efforts of the professional community and pioneering regions, we can develop a Far Eastern Standard for climate policy – pragmatic, technologically advanced, and integrated into the real economy.
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