Global climate action and environmental protection can only work with an active Russian engagement, Germany’s development minister Gerd Müller said at the German-Russian Resource Conference in St. Petersburg.

“Mankind’s survival can only be secured together. The world needs Russia to minimise the environmental and climate risks from mining and processing of raw materials,” Müller said, according to Clean Energy Wire.

The minister said Russia, as the largest country in the world, had enormous climate action potential both by reducing its own emissions and by protecting its vast natural carbon sinks. Müller also noted that Russia had ample potential for renewable hydrogen production , pointing out that Europe’s demand for the gas would double by 2030. The conservative CSU politician said Germany and Russia together could be “a driver for environmental protection,” adding that Germany had great interest in assisting Russia in creating an effective recycling economy that makes resource use more efficient.