Russia's role in international climate change agenda in the XXI century

Abstract

Climate change issues are turning into one of the top priority issues in international relations along with security and economic development. In international relations climate change represents a global problem of (excess) greenhouse gas emissions. Russian climate-related policy has been widely discussed ever since the country refused to join second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. However, Russia’s national role conceptions in the sphere of climate change have not been studied to a sufficient extent. This dissertation describes Russia’s role in international climate change agenda. The hypothesis is that the Russian Federation plays a role of agenda accepter due to Russian elites’ focus on national economic development interests that do not imply readiness to switch to a more environmentally-friendly production and policies. The topic is studied under the role theory that explains decision-making process from the decision-maker’s perspective. The dissertation analyses Russia’s climate change policy through analysis of the main strategic documents in the field. The author comes to the conclusion that economic incentives, as well as considerations about Russia's reputation in international arena have been the main factors driving Russia's climate change policy. By describing evolution of the country’s domestic climate policy and comparing domestic documents to international climate agreements, the author demonstrated that Russia sees its’ role in climate change politics based on its’ self-interpretation as a great power.