A roundtable discussion organised by the German Marshall Fund of the US (GMF) was held in Brussels last week. The roundtable discussed Russian coal production in the context of Dmitry Medvedev’s, President of the Russian Federation, announcement in November 2009 that Russia was looking to expand its coal-fired energy production by 26% in time for 2030 to meet rising domestic energy demands. A recent paper commissioned by the GMF finds that such demands could be met more cost-effectively through increased energy efficiency measures.

According Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Commissioner responsible for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, the Arctic zone could contain as much as 25 percent of the world’s untapped oil reserves, RosEnergy newswire reported

The Russian Duma has created a group focusing on the environmental problems of Russia’s far in response to the boomtown rush to tap the areas vast natural resources, specifically oil and gas, Russian media reported.