Maria Tysiachniouk

The potential for ecological modernisation in Russia: scenarios from the forest industry

The varying ways in which environmental politics takes place in Russia are analysed by discussing the potentiality of the processes of ecological modernisation. The focus is on the forest industry sector of the Russian economy, which has, like Russia in general, undergone considerable transformations. First, the premises of ecological modernisation theory are discussed, and four potential scenarios for ecological modernisation in Russia are discussed. The recent transformation of environmental politics and the forest industry sector of the economy are then explored. Six empirical case studies from the European part of the Russian Federation are introduced and their analysis pays attention to factors that have proven to be significant in bringing about environmental improvements: state regulation, implementation of technological solutions, pressure from the environmental movement, and enterprise ownership. Based on this framework, the different directions generating incentives, motivations and driving forces for environmental improvements in Russia are analysed, as well as the contradictions arising from these processes.

Corporate Social Responsibility and the Oil Industry in the Russian Arctic: Global Norms and Neo-Paternalism

Abstract Examining the oil and gas industry in the Russian Arctic, this article investigates the gap between corporate social responsibility (CSR) as articulated in corporate offices and implemented at the local level. In Russia, global CSR norms interact with weak formal institutions and the strong informal expectations of state officials and local communities that companies bear responsibility for welfare and infrastructure. As a result, the concept of citizens as ‘stakeholders’ is underdeveloped. Instead, local residents remain subjects within a neo-paternalist system of governance that mimics some elements of the Soviet past. Compensation for damages to indigenous peoples has blurred legal obligations and the voluntary nature of CSR. However, the CSR in the region is constantly developing and formal methods of compensation may assist in clarifying the scope and practice of CSR.

Managed citizenship: global forest governance and democracy in Russian communities

In this study, we examine the political implications of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification and its requirements for participatory governance by focusing on three case studies in Russia and drawing upon qualitative research data from 2002 to 2014. We argue that one of the unintended by-products of forest certification is the advancement of a specific type of citizenship – what we refer to as ‘managed citizenship.’ In managed citizenship, local communities are empowered by new rights endowed to them by a global governance generating network (GGN), such as the FSC. Through the GGN, local stakeholders may become involved in long-term initiatives that provide new opportunities to participate in democratic governance. However, citizens’ involvement is cultivated, directed, and circumscribed by actors from outside the communities, such as environmental and certification experts who educate local residents about their stakeholder status. We also find that the persistent weakness of social interests, as opposed to environmental, within the FSC and the effects of economic instability and weak democracy domestically contribute to the challenges of engaging local communities.

Between Oil and Reindeer : Benefit Sharing Agreements between Oil Companies and Indigenous People in Russian Arctic and Subarctic Regions

This research provides insight into various modes of benefit-sharing agreements between oil and gas companies and indigenous people in the Russian Arctic and Subarctic regions. We indicate three main modes of benefit sharing, as follows: (1) paternalism, (2) corporate social responsibility, and (3) partnership. The paternalistic mode is characterized by a hierarchical type of interaction, which implies a patron and clients. This system of obligations is based on practices of informal interaction, and the decision-making process is neither formal, nor transparent. The mode of corporate social responsibility aims to raise investment attractiveness and the productive efficiency of the company, supporting its image as a socially responsible operator. In this mode, the key decisions are made by the company executives in view of state legislation, corporate policies, international standards, and investors’ demands. Finally, the partnership mode suggests equal opportunities for dialogue and decision making for all sides involved - the state authorities, companies, local people, and experts. It is based on global standards that protect the rights of local indigenous communities. This work examines the factors that influence those modes and their efficiency. It asks what is most important in their making: Is it regional specifics, dependency from international actors, details of corporate policies, or the level of local community organization? What instruments of benefit sharing turn out to be most favorable in the Russian context? Our research was conducted using qualitative research methods in three regions of Russia (Nenets Autonomous Okrug [NAO], Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, and Sakhalin). The article is based on the materials of several field expeditions to NAO in 2011 and 2017, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug in 2014, and Sakhalin in 2013 and 2015. The main sources for analysis were interviews with representatives of oil companies, authorities, indigenous peoples, and the expert community. A total of 130 semi-structured interviews were conducted. In addition, we used materials from observation and document analysis (Russian legislation, international standards, and corporate reports).

Oil Extraction and Benefit Sharing in an Illiberal Context: The Nenets and Komi-Izhemtsi Indigenous Peoples in the Russian Arctic

ABSTRACT How can indigenous communities in illiberal regimes benefit from oil production? This paper compares the experience of two indigenous peoples in the Russian Arctic, the Nenets and the Komi-Izhemtsi, in their quest for environmental protection and the development of benefit-sharing arrangements with Lukoil, a Russian oil company. The Nenets people, recognized by the Russian state as indigenous, are marginalized political actors who identified a route to receiving compensation for loss of land and damage to the environment as well as economic benefits under the auspices of Russian law and Lukoil’s corporate policies. In contrast, the Komi-Izhemtsi, despite indigenous status in global institutions including the United Nations and the Arctic Council, are unrecognized as indigenous domestically and initially received no compensation. Their path to benefit sharing was more challenging as they partnered with local nongovernmental organizations and global environmentalists to pressure Lukoil to sign a benefit-sharing agreement. Ultimately, the comparison illustrates how transnational partnerships can empower indigenous people to gain benefits from natural resource exploitation even in illiberal political systems.

Strategies of Environmental NGOs in the Context of the Law on Foreign Agents: Games with Formality

This article analyzes how the law on foreign agents has been interpreted and implemented by the Russian authorities and examines NGOs’ diverse strategies of adaptation in response to the foreign agent label. We offer a typology of NGO responses to the law, illustrating how NGOs adjust to this new organizational environment. We have identified four major strategies among environmental NGOs designated as foreign agents. First, an NGO may attempt to follow the law formally, often returning foreign funding. Second, an NGO may simulate formal compliance, using informal practices to bypass the law and continue its work. Third, an NGO may adopt an exit strategy by abandoning its legal registration to operate informally. Fourth, an NGO can operate from abroad, using access to international institutions. The choice of strategy depends on the available resources, the level of involvement in international networks, the specialization of NGOs, and the configuration of forces at the regional level. Pressures from the new national laws have led NGOs to embrace informality over formal structures and rules. Informal strategies include receiving only in-kind support from abroad, not registering the organization, using nonregistered associations of NGOs to make public statements, or sharing resources between a registered NGO and a nonregistered NGO if one is in jeopardy of being declared a foreign agent. Thus, the foreign agent law can stimulate the paradoxical situation in which the state’s efforts to formalize its relationship to NGOs results the deinstitutionalization of the NGO sector, as groups increasingly use informal strategies to achieve their goals. The study is based on a combination of qualitative methods. We collected 19 interviews with experts from NGOs dealing with environmental protection. We also analyzed websites of environmental NGOs and mass-media publications concerning the problem of foreign agents. All collected materials were transcribed and analyzed using thematic and axial coding. Data triangulation was carried out by correlating information from different sources. Article in Russian. DOI: 10.25285/2078-1938-2017-9-3-18-43

Can zoning resolve nature use conflicts? The case of the Numto Nature Park in the Russian Arctic

In the Russian Arctic, nature protection is important to preserve valuable ecosystems and indigenous lifestyles against the rapidly expanding oil and gas activities. In this regard, zoning legitimately balances influential stakeholders versus weak ones, and can leverage stakeholders to exercise their rights. This study explores how various stakeholders employ zoning in the Numto Nature Park in the oil-rich Russian Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra to advance their interests and how they use scientific information to achieve this. Through stakeholder interviews, analysis of electronic media and literature review, we conclude that a participatory and science-based zoning exercise stimulates the necessary deliberation. However, legal ambiguity, deficient law implementation and informal practices limit the zonings potential to balance stakeholders’ interests. All the stakeholders calculatingly used scientific information to legitimize their own ambitions, activities and claims. Hence, zoning and the underlying information claims should be interpreted as both a resource and a battleground in nature-use conflicts.

Civil Society under the Law ‘On Foreign Agents’: NGO Strategies and Network Transformation

Abstract This essay analyses how the ‘foreign agent’ law has been interpreted and implemented by the Russian authorities and examines diverse NGO survival strategies in response to the ‘foreign agent’ label. The foreign agent law has disrupted and transformed resource mobilisation strategies and transnational NGO networks. Based on qualitative research on environmental NGOs, we offer a typology of NGO responses to the foreign agent law, providing examples to show how the organisations attempt to ensure their survival.

Agenda 21 through the efforts of the third sector in St. Petersburg region

The present publication is devoted to the analysis of St. Petersburg Agenda 21 initiatives under the present historical, political and economic context. The main emphasis is on the role of the third sector in encouraging participation in sustainable development processes. This paper examines problems, barriers and trends of Agenda 21 initiatives in the St. Petersburg and Leningradsky regions. Theories of Western social movements are applied to the analysis.