Climate Obstruction in Russia: surviving resource dependent economy, authoritarian regime and disappearing civil society

Russia is one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of fossil fuels and the fourth-largest global emitter of greenhouse gases. It is widely regarded as a notorious laggard in terms of its climate policy commitments and has been a reluctant participant in global climate negotiations. Yet is critically understudied in the social science literature on climate politics in comparison with other major polluters and fossil fuel exporters. Despite a long tradition of climate research dating back to the Soviet era, policy action on climate change has faced strong opposition in Russia from a range of actors who have sought to obstruct or delay climate action on economic, political, and ideological grounds. The current political and economic isolation of Russia since its invasion of Ukraine could offer new opportunities for climate obstruction as the country finds itself excluded from global climate policy negotiations. This chapter will address the knowledge gap in the history of climate obstruction in Russia as well as offer a comprehensive analysis of the current key actors and institutions involved in climate obstruction, 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, centered on the Ministry for Energy, and government elites starting with the very top by looking at the official position on climate change of Russia’s long-term president Vladimir Putin.