A sylvan superpower? Russian forests in international climate negotiations

Abstract

Under the Kyoto Protocol, North American and European countries could include their own boreal forests as a positive factor in national carbon emission accounting. The question of how such forests should count in any international climate regime remains a highly technical and contentious one. This article examines how representatives to international-level climate negotiations navigate the policy field that has grown up around the notion of ‘climate service’ forests – a policy field marked by both norms of expert behaviour and clearly articulated national political aims. As a case study window onto this complex hybrid terrain, this article focuses on how Russian claims about the country’s extensive boreal forests are presented to and received by international counterparts in UN climate negotiations. In order to think systematically about how particular claims are vetted and gain acceptance, the article employs several indicators associated with the idea of ‘civic epistemology’ from Science and Technology Studies (STS). The civic epistemology framework was developed to analyse national expectations about what constitutes a legitimate knowledge-based claim in a public policy process and the conclusion reflects on the usefulness of this framework for analysis of international politics. This article draws upon primary and secondary sources and qualitative interviews with actors involved in international climate negotiations.