Environmental Governance in Russia: The ‘Closed’ Pathway to Ecological Modernization

Abstract

This paper examines the development of environmental governance in Russia, using the concept of ecological modernization as an analytical framework for an empirical study. From an investigation into both the relationship between economic growth and environmental stress on the basis of the revised model of decoupling and the development of institutional capacity for environmental policy in recent years, this paper reveals that Russia's pathway to ecological modernization is now`closed' in most spheres owing to the economic crisis that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union; this is in contrast to China's experience, wherein ecological modernization has been`forced' as a national policy. Russia is considered to be a typical case of failure of realization of industrial restructuring leading to a relative reduction in environmental stress in a centrally planned economy. Moreover, the country's hyperdepression since the introduction of a market economy has hindered the search for a pathway to medium-term and long-term ecological modernization, which has been exchanged for short-term`ecological improvement without environmental policy'.

Environmental Responsibility in a Transition Context: Russian NGO Perception and Response

“…This lack of transparency arising "overlapping rights and responsibilities" (Henry and Douhovnikoff, 2008, page 440) eroded the capability of individual elements within Russia's environmental institutions and allowed them "to shirk responsibility" (2008, page 440) for specified areas of environmental protection. As a result, the number of environmental inspections of both private and privatised industries decreased (Mol, 2009), leading Tokunaga (2010) to conclude that "there is now little prospect of advancement in the institutional capacity for environmental policy in Russia" (page 1701). The environment had become "deinstitutionalised" (Mol, 2009, page 230).…”

Waxing power, waning pollution: The effect of COVID-19 on Russian environmental policymaking

“…Moreover, whereas the smaller private enterprises in the region were driving environmental improvement in the late 1990s and to some extent still in the 2000s (Kotilainen et al 2008) -and while Russia still has an active non-governmental sector of civil society organizations dedicated to the environment (Henry 2010) -it has more often been the large, state-owned behemoths who used environmental regulation to consolidate their positions and force out foreign competition (Tokunaga 2010). Indeed, although Russia instituted a highly centralized (and essentially closed) process for environmental policymaking after 2000 -replete with a labyrinth of compliance and bureaucracypolitically connected businesses have been able to circumvent or vitiate environmental restrictions or utilize them to their own benefit (Martus 2017b).…”

“… Tokunaga (2010) called attention to the drivers behind this state of affairs, noting that Russian policymakers were essentially focused on short-term ecological improvement so long as this did not conflict with the imperatives of extraction and resource use, a centralized approach that regional actors were then expected to implement irrespective of the suitability of such an approach to a particular region. Moreover, whereas the smaller private enterprises in the region were driving environmental improvement in the late 1990s and to some extent still in the 2000s ( Kotilainen et al 2008 ) - and while Russia still has an active non-governmental sector of civil society organizations dedicated to the environment ( Henry 2010 ) - it has more often been the large, state-owned behemoths who used environmental regulation to consolidate their positions and force out foreign competition ( Tokunaga 2010 ). Indeed, although Russia instituted a highly centralized (and essentially closed) process for environmental policymaking after 2000 – replete with a labyrinth of compliance and bureaucracy - politically connected businesses have been able to circumvent or vitiate environmental restrictions or utilize them to their own benefit ( Martus 2017b ).…”

Impacts of Energy Efficiency and Economic Growth on Air Pollutant Emissions: Evidence from Angara–Yenisey Siberia

“…However, even in countries with pronounced environmental agendas and massive ecologically driven investments, such as China, there are many unsolved issues which hinder the mitigation of habitat degradation [1][2][3]. Other developing countries face the same problems while being less capable of solving them [4][5][6][7][8][9]. As a result, emissions are still growing in most countries, both in absolute and per capita terms, resulting in various adverse effects.…”

“…The lack of consistent and reliable data is a known problem when dealing with statistical studies in Russia [6,45,46]. However, the situation with environmental Russian statistical data is relatively more complicated, especially when downscaling studies to the regional or municipal level.…”