The Politics of Climate Change in Russia: Developing a Research Agenda

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Session Description

Despite the substantial negative impacts of climate change on Russia, the Russian government promotes the benefits of continued fossil fuel use, associated rise in temperatures, and resulting improvements for agriculture, Arctic economy, and general livability in its historically harsh climate. The government is thus failing to address the climate emergency, taking only minimal action to mitigate or adapt. The PONARS Task Force on Russia in a Changing Climate recently published a 17-authored article (“Russia in a Changing Climate,” WIREs Climate Change 2023), which reviewed the growing body of literature on Russia and climate change and ended with implications for future research. This APSA roundtable will pick up where the article left off. Each roundtable participant will reflect on the distinctly political dimensions of Russia in a changing climate, focusing on current gaps in knowledge and suggested research to address these gaps. Russia’s war against Ukraine and increasing authoritarianism prevent many forms of traditional fieldwork. Roundtable participants will therefore also grapple with research limitations and how Russian politics complicates both global climate action and efforts to understand these complications.

Sub Unit

• Division 13: Politics of Communist and Former Communist Countries

Chair

• Debra Javeline University of Notre Dame

Presenters

• Robert W. Orttung George Washington University

• Graeme Robertson University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Mikhail Troitskiy Harvard University

• Laura A. Henry Bowdoin College

• Andrew S. Barnes Kent State University

• Peter Rutland Wesleyan University

• Richard Arnold Muskingum University