Implementing Russia's international environmental commitments: Federal prerogative or regional concern?

Europe - Asia Studies

Volumn 54, Issue 8, 2002, Pages 1223-1240

  Hønneland, Geir ^a   Jørgensen, Anne Kristin ^a  

^a FRIDTJOF NANSEN INSTITUTE   (Norway)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY; INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT; POLICY IMPLEMENTATION;

EURASIA; RUSSIAN FEDERATION;

EID: 3142778927     PISSN: 09668136     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/0966813022000025862     Document Type: Review

References (69)

1. See for example K. Hanf & A. Underdal, 'Domesticating International Commitments: Linking National and International Decision-Making', in A. Underdal (ed.), The Politics of International Environmental Management (Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998);
2. and A. Underdal & K. Hanf (eds), International Environmental Agreements and Domestic Politics: The Case of Acid Rain (Aldershot, Ashgate Publishing, 2000).
3. See for example O. Young, 'The Politics of International Regime Formation: Managing Natural Resources and the Environment', International Organization, 43, 1989, pp. 349-375;
4. O. Young, 'Political Leadership and Regime Formation: On the Development of Institutions in International Society', International Organization, 45, 1991, pp. 281-308;
5. P. M. Haas, Saving the Mediterranean: The Politics of International Environmental Cooperation (New York, Columbia University Press, 1990);
6. R. E. Benedick, Ozone Diplomacy: New Directions in Safeguarding our Planet (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1990);
7. and O. Young & G. Osherenko (eds), Polar Politics: Creating International Environmental Regimes (Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1993).
8. See for example P. Haas, R. O. Keohane & M. A. Levy, Institutions for the Earth, Sources of Effective International Environmental Protection (Cambridge, The MIT Press, 1993);
9. D. Q. Victor, K. Raustiala & E. B. Skolnikoff (eds), The Implementation and Effectiveness of International Environmental Commitments. Theory and Practice (Cambridge, The MIT Press, 1998);
10. J. Wettestad, Designing Effective Environmental Regimes (Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 1999);
11. and O. Young (ed.), The Effectiveness of International Environmental Regimes. Causal Connections and Behavioral Mechanisms (Cambridge, The MIT Press, 1999).
12. The concept of transition economy' - see, for instance, how Victor et al., (eds).p. 3. speak of these countries' 'transition from central planning to a liberal, market-based society ' - indicates a development optimism on behalf of these states' economy and politics that we find hard to apply to contemporary Russia. Instead, we speak of 'post-Soviet Russian economy and politics' to denote the period after the dissolution of the Soviet Union; whether recent developments will lead to a 'liberal, market-based society ' remains to be seen.
13. A few cases of Russian implementation are compared in Victor et al. (eds). The works of Vladimir Kotov and Elena Nikitina deserve particular mention (V. Kotov, Implementation and Effectiveness of International Environmental Regimes during the Process of Economic Transformation in Russia, Laxenburg, International Institute for Applied System Analysis, 1994, WP-94-123;
14. V. Kotov & E. Nikitina, 'To Reduce, or to Produce? Problems of Implementation of the Climate Convention in Russia', in J. B. Poole & R. Guthrie (eds), Verification Yearbook 1996 (Boulder, WestviewPress, 1996);
15. V. Kotov & E. Nikitina, 'Implementation and Effectiveness of the Acid Rain Regime in Russia', in Victor et al. (eds);
16. V. Kotov & E. Nikitina, 'Regime and Enterprise: Norilsk Nickel and Transboundary Air Pollution ', in Victor et al. (eds) ;
17. D. Munton, M. Soroos, E. Nikitina & M. A. Levy, 'Acid Rain in Europe and North America', in Young (ed.);
18. E. Nikitina, 'New Soviet Environmental Policy: Approaches to Global Changes', International Study Notes, 16, 1991, pp. 31-37;
19. E. Nikitina, National Implementation of International Environmental Commitments: A Review of Soviet Literature, Laxenburg, International Institute for Applied System Analysis, 1995, WP-95-26;
20. W. Zimmermann, E. Nikitina & J. Clem, 'The Soviet Union and the Russian Federation: A Natural Experiment in Environmental Compliance', in E. B. Weiss & H. K. Jacobson (eds), Engaging Countries, Strengthening Compliance with International Environmental Accords (Cambridge, The MIT Press, 1998)).
21. See also O. S. Stokke, 'Nuclear Dumping in Arctic Seas: Russian Implementation of the London Convention', in Victor et al. (eds);
22. O. S. Stokke, 'Subregional Cooperation and Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment: the Barents Sea', in D. Vidas (ed.), Protecting the Polar Marine Environment, Law and Policy for Pollution Prevention (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2000);
23. O. S. Stokke, 'Radioactive Waste in the Barents and Kara Seas: Russian Implementation of the Global Dumping Regime', in Vidas (ed.), for contributions dealing with implementation of international environmental agreements in Russia.
24. International institutions for environmental aid to the former Soviet Union are discussed in B. Conolly & M. List, 'Nuclear Safety in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union', in R. O. Keohane & M. A. Levy (eds), Institutions for Environmental Aid. Pitfalls and Promise (Cambridge, The MIT Press, 1996),
25. and B. Connolly, T. Gutner & H. Bedarff, 'Organizational Inertia and Environmental Assistance to Eastern Europe', in Keohane & Levy (eds).
26. R. G. Darst, 'The Internationalization of Environmental Protection in the USSR and its Successor States', in M. A. Schreurs & E. Economy (eds), The Internationalization of Environmental Protection (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1997)
27. and R. G. Darst, Smokestack Diplomacy. Cooperation and Conflict in East-West Environmental Politics (Cambridge, The MIT Press, 2001) provide detailed information on environmental management at the national level in Russia and on the country's co-operation in this field with other states, but do not focus explicitly on the implementation of Russia's international commitments.
28. For a discussion of centre-region relations in the Russian Federation see for example V. Shlapentokh, R. Levita & M. Loiberg, From Submission to Rebellion. The Province versus the Center in Russia (Boulder, Westview Press, 1997);
29. M. McAuley, Russia's Politics of Uncertainty (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1997);
30. P. J. Stavrakis, J. DeBardeleben & L. Black (eds), Beyond the Monolith.' The Emergence of Regionalism in Post-Soviet Russia (Washington, DC, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997);
31. M. A. Alexseev (ed.), Center-Periphery Conflict in Post-Soviet Russia (New York, St Martin's Press, 1999);
32. and G. Hønneland & H. Blakkisrud (eds), Centre-Periphery Relations in Russia. The Case of the Northwestern Regions (Aldershot, Ashgate Publishing, 2001).
33. Since the arrest of Aleksandr Nikitin in February 1996 foreign involvement in environmental affairs has come to be closely linked to espionage in the minds of many inhabitants of Northwestern Russia; cf. a recent news bulletin from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty under the heading 'Murmansk - a Hotbed of Foreign Spies': 'Foreign intelligence services have targeted Murmansk oblast' as a "priority" area for their activities, Nikolai Zharkov, head of the Federal Security Service (FSB) directorate in Murmansk oblast', told Interfax North-West on 28 December... Zharkov also revealed that foreign governments frequently "pursue their own interests" under the cover of environmental organisations' (RFE/RL, Newsline, 30 December 2000).
34. For an overview of Northwest Russian fisheries see G. Hønneland, 'Autonomy and Regionalisation in the Fisheries Management of Northwestern Russia', Marine Policy, 22, 1998, pp. 57-65;
35. G. Hønneland, Coercive, and Discursive Compliance Mechanisms in the Management of Natural Resources. A Case Study from the Barents Sea Fisheries (Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000);
36. G. Hønneland & F. Nilssen, 'Comanagement in Northwest Russian Fisheries', Society and Natural Resources, 13, 2000, pp. 635-648;
37. G. Hønneland & F. Nilssen, 'Quota Allocation in Russia's Northern Fishery Basin: Principles and Practice', Ocean and Coastal Management, 44, 2001, pp. 471-488;
38. and F. Nilssen & G. Hønneland, 'Institutional Change and the Problems of Restructuring the Russian Fishing Industry', Post-Communist Economies, 13, 3, 2001, pp. 313-330.
39. See AMAP, Arctic Pollution Issues: A State of the Arctic Environment Report (Oslo, Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, 1997)
40. and AMAP, Arctic Pollution Issues: A State of the Arctic Environment Report (Oslo, Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, 1998), for authoritative reviews of the environmental state of the Russian Arctic.
41. Previous schemes were finally buried in 1997, but a new agreement on the modernisation of the Pechenganikel' smelter was concluded between Norway and Russia in June 2001. The new project is scheduled to be completed in 2006-07.
42. See for example, Stokke, 'Nuclear Dumping ...' and 'Radioactive Waste ...'.
43. A. V. Yablokov, V. K. Karasev, V. M. Rumyanstsev, M. E. Kokeev, O. Y. Petrov, V. N. Lystsov, A. M. Emel'yanenkov & P. M. Rubtsov, Facts and Problems Related to Radioactive Waste Disposal in Seas Adjacent to the Territory of the Russian Federation (Moscow, Small World Publishers, 1993).
44. For an authoritative assessment of the risk of radioactive contamination from the Russian Northern Fleet see T. Nilsen, I. Kudrik & A. Nikitin, The Russian Northern Fleet: Sources of Radioactive Contamination (Oslo, Bellona, 1996, Bellona Report No. 2).
45. As mentioned above, the extraction of stationary resources on the Kola Peninsula has decreased in recent years due to economic problems at company level.
46. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Montego Bay, 10 December 1982), UN Doc. A/CONF. 62/122, International Legal Materials, 21, pp. 1261.
47. Ibid., Art. 56 [1].
48. More recent global fisheries agreements include the 1995 Fish Stocks Agreement ('Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks' (New York, 4 August 1995), International Legal Materials, 34, 1995, pp. 1547-1580)
49. and two FAO documents: the FAO Compliance Agreement of 1993 ('Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas' (FAO, 24 November 1993), International Legal Materials, 33, 1994, pp. 368-380)
50. and the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries of 1995 (Food and Agriculture Organisation, 'Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries' (Rome, 28 September 1995), reproduced in O. Handl (ed.), Yearbook of International Environmental Law, Vol. 6 (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1996)). There is not room for a specific discussion of these agreements in this context.
51. St prp nr 86 (1974-75) 'Om samtykke til inngåelse av en avtale mellom Norge og Sovjetunionen om samarbeid innen fiskerinæringen' (Report to the Storting No. 86 (1974-75) 'On the consensus to conclude an agreement between Norway and the Soviet Union on co-operation in the fishing industry'), available at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; St prp nr 74 (1976-77) 'Om samtykke til ratifikasjon av en avtale mellom Regjeringen i Kongeriket Norge og Regjeringen i Unionen av Sovjetiske Sosialistiske Republikker om gjensidige fiskeriforbindelser' (Report to the Storting No. 74 (1976-77) 'On the consensus to ratify an agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Norway and the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on mutual fishery relations), available at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
52. 'The London Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Waste and Other Matter', International Legal Materials, 11, pp. 1291ff. (Washington, 13 November 1972). The Convention entered into force on 30 August 1975. It has been signed and ratified by the Russian Federation.
53. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 'Declaration among the Department of Defense of the United States of America, the Royal Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of Norway, and the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation on Arctic Military Environmental Co-operation' (Bergen, 26 September 1996), Oslo, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1996.
54. For a description and assessment of the AMEC co-operation see S. Sawhill, 'Cleaning-Up the Arctic's Cold War Legacy. Nuclear Waste and Military Environmental Cooperation', Cooperation and Conflict, 35, 2000, pp. 5-36;
55. and S. Sawhill & A. K. Jørgensen, Military Nuclear Waste and International Cooperation in Northwest Russia (Lysaker, The Fridtjof Nansen Institute, 2001, FNI Report 12/2001).
56. 'Agreement between the United States of America and the Russian Federation Concerning the Safe and Secure Transportation, Storage and Destruction of Weapons and the Prevention of Weapons Proliferation' (Washington, 17 June 1992), Treaties and Other International Acts Series (Washington, US Department of State);
57. 'Agreement between the United States of America and the Russian Federation Concerning Cooperation in the Elimination of Strategic Offensive Arms' (Washington, 26 August 1993), Treaties and Other International Acts Series (Washington, US Department of State) and Sawhill.
58. 'Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution' (Geneva, 13 November 1979), Geneva, UN Economic Commission for Europe.
59. For an overview of how the acid rain regime evolved see K. Hanf, 'The Problem of Long-Range Transport of Air Pollution and the Acidification Regime', in Underdal & Hanf (eds).
60. 'Protocol to the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution concerning the Control of Emissions of Nitrogen Oxides or their Transboundary Fluxes' (Sofia, 31 October 1988), Geneva, UN Economic Commission for Europe.
61. 'Protocol to the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution concerning the Control of Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds or their Transboundary Fluxes' (Geneva, 18 November 1991), Geneva, UN Economic Commission for Europe.
62. 'Protocol to the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution on Further Reduction of Sulphur Emissions' (Oslo, 14 June 1994), Geneva, UN Economic Commission for Europe. The protocol follows the former Sulphur Protocol adopted in Helsinki on 8 July 1985.
63. Protocol to the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution on Heavy Metals' (Århus, 24 June 1998), Geneva, UN Economic Commission for Europe.
64. 'Protocol to the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution on Persistent Organic Pollutants' (Århus, 24 June 1998), Geneva, UN Economic Commission for Europe.
65. Kotov & Nikitina, 'Implementation and Effectiveness ...'.
66. The political and economic setting of Northwestern Russia, as well as the region's relations with federal authorities, are elaborated in Hønneland & Blakkisrud.
67. Official violation statistics do not exist.
68. Data on the functioning of the Soviet system for fisheries management are poor, but it seems fair to assume that management agencies were relatively well endowed in terms of competence and material resources to perform their tasks satisfactorily. Moreover, target compliance was probably quite high since the command economy implied a high degree of control over the activities of the target groups and the latter had low incentives to cheat.
69. Admittedly, important decisions have to be sanctioned by the federal authorities, but the State Committee for Fisheries does not interfere to any extent in the day-to-day management of Northwest Russian fisheries.