The Kyoto Mechanisms And Russian Climate Politics

This paper argues that the Russian natural-gas sector will be an important player in Russia's response to the Kyoto Protocol of 1997. It analyzes Russian climate policy and the special place of the natural-gas sector, and explores its potentially powerful combination with the Kyoto mechanisms.

Russia's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol brought the pact into force and established an international market in greenhouse gases. As other participants seek to meet their Kyoto commitments to reduce harmful emissions, Russian climate politics is dominated by the supply of surplus emission allowances and credits that could provide other countries with cheaper compliance. Russia and the Kyoto Protocol assesses the prospects for international emissions trading and joint implementation with Russia in the light of economic, political, and institutional factors. The book provides an understanding of the interplay with developments in the energy sector and Russia's economic ambitions and capacity to comply with Kyoto requirements. Potential future political and administrative developments are also considered. This detailed insight into the dynamics of Russian Kyoto politics and implementation will be of value to policymakers, businesses, and analysts engaging with Russia through the Kyoto mechanisms, and those interested in developments in the international climate regime.

This book explores the development of climate change discourses in Russia. It contributes to the study of climate change as a cultural idea by developing the extensive Anglophone literature on environmental science, politics and policy pertaining to climate change in the West to consider how Russian discourses of climate change have developed. Drawing on contributors specialising in numerous periods, regions, disciplines and topics of study, the central thread of this book is the shared attempt to understand how environmental issues, particularly climate change, have been understood, investigated and conceptualised in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia. The chapters aim to complement work on the history of the discursive political construction of climate change in the West by examining a highly contrasting (but intimately related) cultural context. Russia remains one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters with one of the most carbon-intensive economies. As the world begins to suffer the extreme consequences of anthropogenic climate change, finding adequate solutions to global environmental problems necessitates the participation of all countries. Russia is a central actor in this global process and it, therefore, becomes increasingly important to understand climate change discourse in this region. Insights gained in this area may also be illuminating for examining environmental discourses in other resource rich regions of the world with alternative economic and political experiences to that of the West (e.g. China, Middle East). This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Russian environmental policy and politics, climate change discourses, environmental communication and environment and sustainability in general.

In the paper of this project the Russia's political justifications for the signing of the Kyoto Protocol and the refusal to sign the Paris Accord are analyzed. Russia's current adaptive strategies and trajectory towards creating a potentially devastating future for the planet are assessed in terms of their economic justifications. Overall this paper argues that the Paris Accord needs to be amended to be economically and politically fair for all signing countries. Currently Russia could lose GDP if they signed the accord, and this is presented as the primary reason for Russia's refusal to sign. The thesis of the paper is that economic and environmental goals must coincide for Russia to make a change. Intro to Art Component: Russia is one of the world's leaders on climate change, despite its isolationist attitudes towards the rest of the world. Russia is putting island countries in danger with their emissions as they gain in Arctic mining and oil and gas deals with China and Europe. There are however risks at home. With these Russia is taking an adaptive and responsive strategy. They rebuild the villages burned by forest fires, and will likely keep the majority safe from the future events. What we can infer is that climate change is a game of trade offs for Russia: while they will face accelerated wildfires, and continued threats to its coastal jewel St. Petersburg, the economy will thrive under a new gas line to Germany. Russia is isolationist in that its choice to continue emissions at a rate that could devastate the planet, yet, the state is willing to take this gamble, as Russia may be more safe than other places in this devastation and herein lies the responsibility of proper international climate negotiations and treaties. The benefits and costs to each country must be balanced through concessions. Perhaps, also it is the role of powers such as the church to intervene and prevent potential catastrophe, however, so far we face their silence. Please enjoy these images and thoughts on the current state of Russian affairs and be reminded of the importance of the effects of our actions on the planet. Yet, also remember that perhaps there are no clear right and wrong way forward in the story of climate change, simply trade offs.

Russia remains among the top-5 greenhouse gas emitters in the world and thus an important player in the field of international climate politics. To gain a deeper understanding of how Russian climate politics is formed, the changing and somewhat unexpected role scientists and scientific knowledge play in shaping Russian policymaking is explored.

The book documents the scientific facts regarding climate change and a brief overview of the key developments in the climate change regime, discussing Kyoto Protocol and beyond. The North-South politics regarding energy markets and the emissions there from, are also discussed in the book. After establishing the scientific base, presenting agreements and policies for climate change in general, and the Kyoto Protocol in particular, the Instruments and Institutions for Kyoto Protocol are reviewed. The rapid and large climate changes can be expected to have far-reaching and, in many instances, unpredictable consequences not only for only for human societies, but also for all forms of life on Earth. For example, a rise global sea level, can threaten coastal cities and settlements throughout the world. The book discusses the impact of climate change and the associated environmental and socio-economic impacts in different parts of the world. The book discussed science and philosophy behind Climate Change and the Kyo

The attitude of Russia towards climate change is extremely important for the success of climate change control policies worldwide, as Russia, with its cold climate and vast resources of carbon fuels, is one of the world’s biggest polluters. Moreover, Russia frequently comes across as not being very interested in containing environmental pollution. This book explores how issues to do with climate change are handled by the Russian media. It discusses how the state and economic elites have influenced Russia’s environmental communication, with the state’s control of the media strengthening since Putin came to power, and with control being exercised in some cases by ignoring or silencing the key issues. However, the book also shows how, recently, elites and the state in Russia have begun to realise that it is in the state’s best interest to pursue more climate-oriented policies. The book concludes by examining how the communication of climate change issues in Russia could be improved and by assessing the extent to which a recent change in state climate policy could mean that media coverage of climate change in Russia will keep increasing.

A concise and authoritative guide to the evolution, terms and implications of the Kyoto Protocol, this book provides an economic and political account of key policy debates and their outcome. It also explains the meaning of provisions on emissions trading and other flexibility mechanisms, and provides a quantitative analysis using the emissions trading model devised by the RIIA's Energy and Environmental Programme.