ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКИЙ ПОЯС ШЕЛКОВОГО ПУТИ: ЭКОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ АСПЕКТЫ

Abstract

The paper examines the institutional transformations initiated by the leadership of the China in connection with the implementation of Economic Belt Silk Road and “Ecological civilization”. First, the article presents an overview of the guidance documents of the Government of China aimed at increasing environmental responsibility of Chinese companies in their foreign investment and projects. The most significant of them are aimed, on the one hand, at the development of specific “green” financial instruments (stocks, bonds, loans) and, on the other hand, to increase environmental responsibility in the global financial system as a whole. That is, in essence, the spread of the “Equator principles” in the sphere of financial practices. The economic expansion of China involves the participation of Chinese companies in the creation and modernization of infrastructure in many countries in the territory of Silk Road Economic Belt, and this is a very important aspect for the Eastern regions of Russia. Therefore, special attention has been paid to analysis of Sustainable Infrastructure Guidelines for Overseas Chinese Enterprises elaborated by China International Contractors Association. The author’s analysis reveals that the documents reflect current scientific approaches to ensuring of ecological balance. At the same time, China’s official position on issues of social and environmental responsibility is an important and apparently necessary, but not a sufficient condition for ecological safety of projects of Russian-Chinese cooperation. We discuss the potential environmental risks for projects in Russia, connected with imperfection of the Russian environmental institutions. We argue that Russia faces a challenge of the necessity of substantial reciprocal institutional transformation. In conclusion, proposals for the urgent changes are presented, including the establishment of adequate levels of payments for negative impact on the environment and introduction of the Strategy Environmental Assessment procedures according to Espoo Convention.