Global Environmental Norms and Their Russian Implementation

Abstract

The dominant approach to environmental issues in Russia is rather ambiguous, if not paradoxical. On the one hand, the Russian public is hardly involved—at least by the standards of an industrialized country—in the discussion and practical solution of environmental problems. This is compounded by an underdeveloped network of environmental NGOs, increasingly granular government regulation of NGOs in general (especially those receiving foreign funding), suspicion of the Russian media towards non-political (so-called humanitarian) lobbying and environmental lobbying in particular, and a lack of consensus in the Russian research and analytical community on the impact of climate change on the country’s future development. Some experts, who accept that global warming is underway, prefer to focus on future benefits and gains, while others question the anthropogenic origin of the observed changes in the natural environment.