Ecological Organisations in the Post-Soviet States as a Tool for Meeting Environmental Challenges (Based on the Example of the Russian Federation and the Ukraine)

The aim of the study was to analyse the key historical milestones of the development of environmental organisations in the post-Soviet states based on the example of the Russian Federation and Ukraine, which influenced the modern dynamics of the development of environmentalism. The sources for the study are statistical data from the official websites of the bodies of authority (Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation), results of sociological surveys of the Russian Public Opinion Research Center and the Higher School of Economics, data presented on the official websites of environmental organisations in Russia and Ukraine. The use of historical, systematic and institutional approaches allowed identifying the causes of emergence, the main problems and features of environmental organisations' development. The main reason for environmental organisations' emergence in the Russian Federation and in Ukraine was the environmental disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which contributed to the development of environmentalism and at the same time showed its extremely weak positions in terms of creating political parties and participating in policy-making. Among the range of problems, the author of the study focuses on the lack of funding sources and difficulties in the interaction with representatives of various levels of government. Particular attention is paid to the specific features of Russian and Ukrainian environmental movements. Similar features of their environmentalism include the insufficiently effective model of interaction between national and regional organisations, the already formed environmental consciousness of the population. At the same time, the point of difference between the ecological organisations of Russia and Ukraine is different models of interaction with the authorities. In the Russian Federation, a model of active state intervention in the legislative process has been developed. This is reflected in the limited impact of environmentalists on decision-making and the strict control of the state through the regulatory and legal acts on the issues of environmental organisations' accountability and funding. Ukraine has developed a moderate model of state intervention in the legislative process: the state actively supports environmentalists' initiatives and the establishment of new public organisations. Summing up, the author notes that the identified similarities and difference between the environmentalists of Russia and Ukraine, however, do not have a significant impact on the importance of reducing environmental threats and the importance of solving environmental problems. It is necessary to continue work on improving the regulatory framework, to promote the expansion of opportunities for public activists to influence political decision-making, to form mechanisms for civic participation to involve the population at large in solving environmental problems.

Keywords

Authors

References