The Low-Carbon Economy as an Institutional Project: Challenges and ObjectivesMargarita V. Kurbatova

Abstract

The article considers the process of creating new laws in the sphere of ecological regulation in connection with the climate change to be the means of shaping new institutional structures that can potentially transform the behavior of economic actors and the directions of resource flows. The problem statement and goal setting for the institutional design of the climate-environment agenda are scrutinized in the article. Scientific and political-economic foundations for choosing the direction of the global community's response to the threats of climate change and the corresponding institutional changes are highlighted in this research. The mechanisms of sustainable development priorities transformation towards the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through the transition to renewable energy sources are demonstrated in the paper. The concept of the low-carbon economy associated with the carbon-neutral constraints on economic activity is described in the paper in details. The author offers the project of institutional transformation that implies the creation of new institutions for a global response to climate change threats. The measures for ensuring the mild adaptation of economic actors to the new type of ecological constraints are also elaborated. According to the authors, one of the most significant challenges of climate change lies in the creation and simultaneous existence of overlapping institutional projects at the global and national levels. Given the inevitability of climate change, the measures ensuring the adaptation of the economy and society to the consequences of ecological changes should be prioritized. It is recommended to intensify the formation of the institutional project in line with the national interest of creating a competitive advantage for the Russian economy.