In March, in cooperation with FLOWISION project, we host Marianna Poberezhskaya from Nottingham Trent University, who will present her research (co-authored with Ellie Martus, Griffith University) on “Climate obstruction in Russia: Surviving resource dependent economy, authoritarian regime and disappearing civil society“.
Russia is one of the world’s largest fossil fuel producer-exporters and the fourth-largest global emitter of greenhouse gases. It is widely regarded as a laggard in its climate policy commitments and has been a reluctant participant in global climate negotiations. Despite a long tradition of climate research dating back to the Soviet era, policy action on climate change has faced opposition from a range of actors who have sought to obstruct or delay such action on economic, political, and ideological grounds. Furthermore, being an authoritarian state Russia’s own political regime also contributes to climate obstruction. The current isolation of the country since its invasion of Ukraine appears to offer new opportunities for climate obstruction as the country finds itself excluded from the policy negotiations. This talk will address the knowledge gap in the history of climate obstruction in Russia and offer a comprehensive analysis of the current key actors and institutions involved, including the largest fossil fuel companies, such as Rosneft and Gazprom; a powerful industry association, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE); the networks of bureaucratic actors centred on the Ministry for Energy; and government elites, starting at the very top with a look at President Vladimir Putin.
The Online talk will be held on Zoom on March 12 from 12:00 to 13:30 (Helsinki time). If you wish to participate and receive emails with updates about the future online talks, please leave your contact information here by March, 11 at noon: registration form. If you have already subscribed to the Online talks mailing list, you don’t need to register again: you will receive further information via email.
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