Environmental Protection in the Russian Federation: Lessons and Opportunities

Abstract

Environmental managers in Russia face severe problems, both from Soviet-era and continuing environmental degradation and due to the weakness of current institutions with responsibilities for environmental protection. This paper draws on surveys, a case study of water pollution and workshops on Russian environmental decision making to explore prospects for environmental improvements. Using concepts from the regulatory reform literature, it focuses on the use of market incentives, the construction of a civil society and community involvement, and emphasizes that Russian non-governmental organizations may have a particularly important role to play in improving environmental management. Solidifying their legal base, coalition-building skills and the capability to conduct independent, pragmatic policy analyses would enhance their contribution.

Australia and Russia: How do their environmental policy processes differ?

“…An example of industry pressure is that after the re-election of Boris Yeltsin in 1996, he reduced the status of the Ministry of Environmental Protection to a more subordinate State Committee for Environmental Protection (this refers to the change of the status of the Goskomeologii). Wernstedt (2002) suggests that perhaps this was done because in his campaign he received a strong support from industry. As with the pressure of Russian oil and gas producers, parallels can be observed in Australia with industry pressure group on environmental decision-making (Hall and Taplin 2007).…”

“…In Russia, sometimes one ecological region belongs to the area of responsibility of a number of regional and/or local authorities and mismanagement occurs (Shavrina 2004); an example is the Busuluksky Forest (which is on the list of MNR to become a national park) where the Orenburg regional authority has authorised felling of trees and Samara regional authority plans to authorise production of oil (MNR 2007). In considering environmental protection at all levels of government, some commentators emphasise that the major problems of administration of environmental protection currently in Russia are associated with the regional and municipal levels of government and include, for example, lack of funding and unclear structures and responsibilities (Shavrina 2004;Wernstedt 2002). In this respect, certain similarities with Australia can be observed.…”

“…The majority of commentators internationally (Oldfield 2002;Von Ritter and Tsirkunov 2003;Wernstedt 2002) and also in Russia (including NGOs, the mass media and also the general public) (Novaya Kamchatskaya Pravda 2000;Yablokov 2000;Zakharov et al 2000) agree that abolishment of the Goskomekologii caused weakening of the system of environmental protection. This has resulted in a situation where 'wolves shepherd sheep' or consumers of natural resources regulate their own environmental pollution-a situation of agency capture corresponding to the so-called 'capture thesis' originally described by Bernstein (1955).…”

“…There is an opinion that the Goskomekologii was eliminated because its policies were perceived as an obstacle to economic growth (Von Ritter and Tsirkunov 2003). Wernstedt (2002) argues that its abolishment has resulted in an increase in environmental pollution, loss of environmental funds and that this event also correlates with sharp decreases in polluter pays contributions. On the other hand, some of the Russian mass media supported abolition of the Goskomekologii, arguing, for example, that there was chaos within the structure of this unnecessary organisation and that due to its abolition Russia finally will have a ''normal expert environmental system'' (Stepanov 2000).…”

“…However, in general, from 1970 onwards and until the USSR's collapse in the 1990s, a system of centralised management was the chief mechanism of environmental control in the Soviet Union (Kozeltsev and Markandya 1997). Before the USSR's collapse, a specialised system of the government departments devoted to environmental protection was gradually set up and in 1988, the Union Committee for Environmental Protection (the famous Goskomekologii) was founded (Wernstedt 2002). From that time and until currently, commandand-control methods have a central place in the system of environmental protection in Russia (Shavrina 2004).…”