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

Abstract

Like most countries globally, COVID-19 continues to have a demonstrable health, economic, and environmental impact on Russia. The purpose of this paper is to examine the possible ramifications for environmental quality in Russia during and following the coronavirus pandemic. Our work builds on the framework of Elinor Ostrom, as we argue that the pandemic and subsequent lockdown in Russia has highlighted the need for a more polycentric, de-centralized approach to environmental protection. We provide evidence for this point using a novel econometric strategy: given the tight centralization of environmental policymaking, we proxy for de facto decentralization using the amount of influence a regional governor has at the federal level. Using timely data on pollution in major Russian cities both before and during the pandemic, we employ an instrumental variable analysis which shows that pollution in a particular Russian region is negatively related to the amount of influence a Russian governor has at the federal level. Thus, the more powerful a governor is in their ability to set their own course, the better results they have in environmental quality. We conclude that Russia's environmental policy needs a fundamental rethink -and extensive decentralization -in a post-COVID-19 world.

COVID-19 and entrepreneurship entry and exit: Opportunity amidst adversity

“…These measures lasted from the end of March 2020 until mid-May 2020 [ 41 , 42 ]; and [ 43 ]. Along with these measures, the responsibility of introducing further pandemic-related policies, re-opening non-essential businesses, and regulating regional mobility was shifted from the federal to the regional authorities [ 27 , 42 ]. This resulted in the substantial regional variation in the support policies for businesses and households introduced to cope with the pandemic consequences (for an overview of COVID economic policies in Russia, see Ref.…”

“… 1 For instance, see Hartwell et al [ 27 ] on the role of the pandemic on governance and air pollution in Russia. …”

Short-term effect of COVID-19 lockdowns on atmospheric CO2, CH4 and PM2.5 concentrations in urban environment

“…Apparently, this was typical for all Russian cities (Thu et al 2020). At the same time, the dynamics of industrial production did not statistically drop in April-May 2020, which means the normal operation of the main enterprises of the region (Hartwell et al 2021;Zubarevich and Safronov 2020). Therefore, the obtained results are mostly accounted for by the changes in population activity, rather than in industry.…”

Does income inequality matter for CO2 emissions in Russian regions?

“…We employ data covering 73 regions of Russia provided by the Russian Federal State Statistical Service (Rosstat), the Unified Interdepartmental Statistical Information System (UISIS), and the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation for the years 2004-2018. This research period covers the years of centralization in Russia associated with the decrease in quality of the environmental policy, until the health and economic crises caused by COVID-19 (Hartwell et al, 2021).…”

“…Environmental policy stringency significantly reduces CO2 emissions in Russian regions with relatively higher GRP (Sohag et al, 2021). Polycentric environmental policy, i.e., increased regional autonomy in environmental policy, is essential for decreasing air pollution in the Russian cities, with regional governors' connections with the federal government (governors' influence on the federal level) being a proxy for decentralization, and taking into account the role of COVID-19 pandemic (Hartwell et al, 2021).…”