International Environmental Cooperation Research Articles

Improving the current configuration of the Russian Federation Arctic Zone, with account to international environmental cooperation within the framework of the Arctic Council

This article analyzes the problems of correlating the space within which the Russian Federation’s special state policy is implemented, considering Russia’s international obligations, to the actual status of the Arctic territories. The boundaries of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (AZRF) and the territories specified by the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) working group of the Arctic Council are only partially coincident and vary in different regions. This discrepancy can be explained by the lack of uniform criteria for the identification of the southern border of the Arctic zone, while international projects aimed at preserving the natural environment and biodiversity in the Arctic are being implemented in these territories. A number of territories have been proposed for inclusion in the Arctic zone as part of the final stage of the Russian Arctic. It is important to define the Arctic zone in order to address the problems of protecting the environment and biological resources of the territory and ensuring the social and economic well-being of the Arctic population.

Analysing the interplay between energy transition, resource consumption, deforestation, and environmental factors on agricultural productivity: Insights from APEC countries

The growing focus on regional and international environmental cooperation has helped further discussions about environmental sustainability. This study evaluates agricultural economic productivity and how it is affected by natural resource consumption, energy transition, deforestation, global trade integration and environmental degradation in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries. Our empirical findings from CS-ARDL, AMG and CCEMG help us reveal that environmental degradation, deforestation and natural resource abundance lower agricultural productivity, while energy transition and global trade integration improve agricultural productivity. Additionally, despite being highly integrated within global economic structure, APEC countries have not been able to boost agricultural productivity more than other regional blocks. We propose novel policy recommendations for APEC policymakers to improve environmental sustainability and agricultural productivity.

Prospects for the development of Ukrainian-Polish cross-border cooperation in the environmental sphere

Abstract Subject and purpose of work: The purpose of the article is to study the peculiarities of the development of environmental cross-border cooperation, as well as to determine the prospects and ways of deepening interregional Ukrainian-Polish cooperation in the environmental sphere. The relevant international environmental cooperation of the states contributes to the improvement of the environment and provides a defined level of environmental safety. The challenges of international economic greening as well as the needs in cooperation between the neighboring states indicate that studying of the ecological state on the cross-border territories is considered to be of great significance. Materials and methods: The methods used are the analytical and descriptive ones based on the critical literature review and an experiential reflective attitude on the key issues concerning the cross-border cooperation, ecological safety, and prospects of development of environmental cooperation. Results: The role of cross-border cooperation in ensuring environmental security was studied in the article. The strategic priorities of Ukrainian-Polish environmental cooperation were considered. As a result of the analysis of the current state and the achieved results, the prospects for further ecological cooperation between Ukraine and the Republic of Poland in the conditions of European integration were revealed. Conclusions: It is concluded that to assure the development of the Ukrainian-Polish cross-border environmental cooperation and to build the ecological safety system on the trans-frontier territories it is required at the regional level to establish partnership relationships in the environmental and economic sector; to intensify the environmental and economic international cooperation at various cross-border scales; to create a network of cross-border environmental information centers; to promote the environmental public education in the border regions of the neighboring states etc.

Challenges, Opportunities and Future Paths: Environmental Governance of Big Data Initiatives in China

Environmental governance is a common task confronting human society in the 21st century. In recent years, China’s environmental crisis has been alleviated to some extent by the Chinese government’s vigorous regulation. However, as the world factory, China’s total greenhouse gas emissions have ranked first in the world for many years, and China still faces a very huge environmental protection pressure. The degree of informationization of China’s environmental governance must be improved, with particular emphasis on the collection and use of environmental big data to help transform, upgrade, and improve the efficiency of China’s environmental governance. The Chinese government obviously recognizes this and keeps promulgating policy documents related to environmental big data, and there are certain achievements in practice, but it is still in the primary stage of figuring out in general with many imperfections existing. The United States and other countries have more mature experience in the collection and application of environmental big data, which can be an important reference for China. Establishing organizational structures to support the development of environmental big data, striving to form a team of professionals with interdisciplinary knowledge, strengthening relevant legislation for environmental big data, and utilizing international environmental cooperation mechanisms to conduct international cooperation on environmental big data are the areas that China needs to focus on most in the process of improving the collection and use of environmental big data in the future.

Research on the path of practical cooperation between China and European Union countries under the environment of carbon neutrality and peak carbon dioxide emissions

Globalization is increasing daily with the development of the world economy and society. International conflicts, cooperation, and interdependence in international environmental relations have become increasingly prominent, laying a theoretical and practical basis for international environmental cooperation. The ecological protection industries of China and the EU (European Union) are facing great development opportunities. Many EU member states have advantages in developing the environmental protection industry, which facilitates all-around cooperation in the environmental protection industry with my country. Based on the target policy background of PCDE (peak carbon dioxide emissions) and CN (carbon neutrality) and domestic and foreign research, this paper proposes a study on the practical cooperation path between China and EU countries. Based on international input–output data, an economic output CDE (carbon dioxide emission) matrix is constructed to characterize countries’ economic and CDE correlation, thus forming a global CDE network. The analysis shows that the contribution rate of energy structure effect and energy intensity fluctuates slowly, indicating a positive and negative alternation; Our government should adopt an active energy optimization policy, speed up the formulation of macro policies such as carbon tax on energy-consuming industries, continuously optimize the energy structure and reduce the CDE intensity. By 2023, China’s unit GDP will remain the same by 40–50% compared with 2022. Furthermore, the practical cooperation path proposed in this paper can provide valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders in both China and the EU to promote the development of the environmental protection industry and achieve the common goal of carbon neutrality. The findings of this study can be used to inform the design and implementation of policies and initiatives aimed at reducing carbon emissions, improving energy efficiency, and promoting sustainable economic growth. Additionally, the international CDE network constructed in this study can serve as a useful tool for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of environmental policies and initiatives at the international level. Overall, this paper contributes to the scientific understanding of the complex relationship between economic development and environmental protection and provides practical guidance for promoting international cooperation in the environmental protection industry.

International cooperation, production side emissions and environmental sustainability

PurposeRising greenhouse gases have contributed to global warming above the pre-industrial levels with detrimental effects on world climatic patterns. Extreme weather has inflicted drastic impacts, including loss of lives and livelihoods and economic disruption. However, collective international cooperation in adopting greenhouse gas emission mitigating measures can translate into long-run beneficial effects of improving environmental quality. This study examines if international environmental cooperation among the world's top ten polluters can reduce production side emissions.Design/methodology/approachThe panel estimation procedure was applied to data from ten top polluting countries from 2000 to 2019.FindingsThe results revealed a statistically significant inverse association between a nation's commitments to international environmental treaties and carbon dioxide emissions. Other than confirming the environmental Kuznets curve effect, industrial intensification, international trade and law rule are other strong correlations of carbon dioxide emissions.Research limitations/implicationsThe main policy implication is the urgency for the leaders of the world's top ten polluters to actively cooperate in developing and implementing new production-side carbon emission measures as well as the implementation and enforcement of existing international treaties to minimize further environmental damage and let the countries in the lower ranks of carbon emissions to enjoy the long-run benefits of the decarbonized world.Originality/valueThis study makes a new contribution to the environmental research literature by unfolding how collective global cooperation on environmental challenges can help reduce environmental damage in a coherent analytical framework.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-09-2022-0598

Green agenda in the modern practice of countries and regions: In search of a unified approach

Although international environmental cooperation goes back several decades, negotiation and rule-making processes aimed at ensuring sustainable development of the individual regions and world economy have intensified in last years. In the context of the simultaneous intensification of international pressure to “green up” world economy and the growing contradictions between the international actors, the team of authors set a goal to identify the areas of common interest and main disagreements in the positions of key actors on the transition to low carbon development. The research is based on the use of historical and systemic approaches, analytical, bibliographic, logical, structural methods. The authors put forward and test the hypothesis about the primacy of the international approach to the “greening up” of the modern economy. The evolution of the perception of greenhouse gas emissions from a natural satellite of economic progress (before the 1960s) to the main cause of global warming (since the 1990s) is shown. Key international climate agreements and initiatives were systematized, to record the transition from strict top-down benchmarks of harmful emissions reduction to softer self-determined commitments and “green” projects. The conducted correlation analysis revealed the reasons for national differences in the formation of the climate agenda. For the studied group of countries, population and GDP have the greatest impact on CO2 emissions. Developed countries are characterized by an inverse relationship: population growth and GDP growth lead to a decrease in emissions, which can be explained by the predominant share of the service sector in the national economy. Industry and foreign direct investment are the key generators of hydrocarbon pollution in the EU, in India and China respectively. The impossibility of resolving problems at the regional level has led to the delegation of authority to national and international institutions. The article will be of interest to specialists involved in the shaping environmental programs, experts in the field of the regional economy.

What does network analysis teach us about international environmental cooperation?

This paper uses network analysis to study the structural properties of international environmental cooperation. We investigate four pertinent hypotheses. First, we quantify how the growing popularity of environmental treaties since the early 1970s has led to the emergence of an environmental collaboration network and document how collaboration is accelerating. Second, we show how over time the network has become denser and more cohesive, and distances between countries have become shorter, facilitating more effective policy coordination and knowledge diffusion. Third, we find that the network, while global, has a noticeable European imprint: initially, the United Kingdom and more recently France and Germany have been the most important players to broker environmental cooperation. Fourth, international environmental coordination started with fisheries and the sea but is now most intense on waste and hazardous substances. The network of air and atmosphere treaties has distinctive topological features, lacks the hierarchical organization of other networks, and is the network most significantly shaped by UN-sponsored treaties.

INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL COOPERATION IN THE ARCTIC IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBAL CHALLENGES AND CHANGES

The ongoing global processes are reorienting Russia's international cooperation in the Arctic in the field of scientific research and economic development. The SCO and the EAEU organizations are gaining significant international influence, and the formation of cooperation between the BRICS countries continues. Russia's growing interaction with non-Arctic states creates the need to search for (or develop) fundamentally new legal foundations for international environmental cooperation in the Arctic. The developed practice of regional legal regulation of certain environmental problems in the Arctic is leveled by the illegal behavior of the Arctic states. The international agreements adopted by the SCO, the EAEU and the BRICS in the field of environmental and Arctic cooperation are studied. The reasonability of developing and adopting a universal international agreement regulating the legal regime of the Arctic, capable of violating the national interests of Russia and the Arctic states, is disputed. At the same time, the elaboration of international environmental standards for navigation, fishing, development and processing of natural resources and other activities in the Arctic is of practical interest. It is noted that despite the proclamation of the Arctic vector of development by the organizations, the international legislation of the Arctic orientation is characterized by fragmentary elaboration of individual elements in the absence of integrated approaches.

Regional dimension of international environmental cooperation: the European Union environmental policy and its relations with its neighbors in the case of Russia

This article aims to examine factors influencing the development of international environmental cooperation and the roles of particular actors participating in environmental cooperation. In general, the majority of international actors agree with the importance of environmental protection but demonstrate different visions in terms of necessary measures. The final result depends on their capability to find common ground. It is assumed that the EU, with its strong environmental policy, realizes the importance of transborder coordination of environmental measures and tries to promote environmental cooperation. Russia was a serious challenge to the EU in terms of environmental security due to its geographic proximity, its severe environmental problems, and its harmful influence over environmental situation in the EU member states. The EU policy towards Russia demonstrates how the EU promotes environmental cooperation and ensures improvement of the environmental situation in the neighboring states. This paper will answer the following research questions: what factors determine the motivation of international actors participating in environmental cooperation; how the EU environmental traditions and decision-making procedures influence its external environmental activities; and how the EU tries to influence Russian environmental policy.

Regional dimension of international environmental cooperation: the European Union environmental policy and its relations with its neighbors in the case of Russia

This article aims to examine factors influencing the development of international environmental cooperation and the roles of particular actors participating in environmental cooperation. In general, the majority of international actors agree with the importance of environmental protection but demonstrate different visions in terms of necessary measures. The final result depends on their capability to find common ground. It is assumed that the EU, with its strong environmental policy, realizes the importance of transborder coordination of environmental measures and tries to promote environmental cooperation. Russia was a serious challenge to the EU in terms of environmental security due to its geographic proximity, its severe environmental problems, and its harmful influence over environmental situation in the EU member states. The EU policy towards Russia demonstrates how the EU promotes environmental cooperation and ensures improvement of the environmental situation in the neighboring states. This paper will answer the following research questions: what factors determine the motivation of international actors participating in environmental cooperation; how the EU environmental traditions and decision-making procedures influence its external environmental activities; and how the EU tries to influence Russian environmental policy.

Ekspor Sampah Uni Eropa ke Indonesia sebagai Bentuk Eco-Imperialism

Environmental policy has become an important aspect of reviewing international relations environmental issues. The European Union is a regional institution that has been very active in international environmental cooperation. However, at the same time, the European Union is one of the largest waste exporters to countries in Asia, including Indonesia. Waste export is a free trade mechanism that allows developed countries to send waste to developing countries to be processed as industry materials. This then becomes contradictory to the commitment of the European Union in promoting environmentally friendly policies, and policies for the export of waste are considered as a form of ecoimperialism. This article discusses how the waste export policy by the European Union has become a form of ecological colonization for Indonesia as a waste recipient. Keywords: Waste Export; Eco-Imperialism; Environmental Policy

Ekspor Sampah Uni Eropa ke Indonesia sebagai Bentuk Eco-Imperialism

Environmental policy has become an important aspect in reviewing environmental issues in international relations. The European Union is a regional institution that has been very active in international environmental cooperation. However, at the same time the European Union is one of the largest waste exporters to countries in Asia, including Indonesia. Waste export is a free trade mechanism that allows developed countries to send waste to developing countries to be processed as industry materials. This then becomes contradictory to the commitment of the European Union in promoting environmentally friendly policies and policies for the export of waste are considered as a form of eco-imperialism. This article discusses how the waste export policy by the European Union has become a form of ecological colonization for Indonesia as a waste recipient. Keywords: waste export; eco-imperialism; environmental policy

Cooperation between Russia and Germany in the field of energy policy in the XX-XXI centuries

The author devoted the paper to the peculiarities of bilateral cooperation between Russia and Germany in the field of maintaining a favourable environmental balance. The author notes that nature protection for a long time was not considered as a subject of interstate cooperation and did not fall into the focus of the agenda of important international summits. In connection with a number of historical reasons, at the beginning of the last century there was minimal state interest in organizing the protection of protected areas, conducting stabilization and supporting environmental measures, as well as ensuring the conservation and renewability of natural resources. The extensive path of economic development, the devastating military operations and the assessment of the natural environment as a resource basis for achieving primary state tasks contributed to the development of the global environmental crisis by the middle of the 20th century. The paper emphasizes that the starting point of international environmental cooperation and the adoption of a number of universal environmental acts were reports within the framework of the Club of Rome and further multilateral summits on climate and environmental issues dating back to the second half of the 20th century. The author assigns a special role within the framework of Russian-German environmental cooperation to the Nord Stream and Nord Stream-2 gas pipelines. The author emphasizes that cooperation within the framework of the projects took place in the context of the Western sanctions on Russia. Using energy projects as an example, the author showed in action the environmental relationship in the process of fuel and energy dialogue between partner countries. Based on an analysis of the results achieved, the author concludes that the future environmental cooperation between Russia and Germany is promising.

Environmental Beliefs and Pro-Environmental Behavioral Intention of an Environmentally Themed Exhibition Audience: The Mediation Role of Exhibition Attachment

Many scholars have focused on the role of exhibitions in business promotion, and numerous studies have been conducted. The exhibition may influence the audience’s behaviors through the dissemination of information and ideas, but few researchers have looked into this further. There is a distinct lack of research on the process of exhibition influencing people’s behavioral intentions. Based on the belief–emotion–norm theoretical model, this study integrates environmental beliefs, exhibition attachment, and an audience’s environmental behavior intentions into a research model to explain how the exhibition affects the audience. The Macau International Environmental Cooperation Forum & Exhibition attendees served as the research object in the current empirical study. The study’s findings suggest that audiences’ environmental beliefs may have a significant and positive impact on their attachment to environmentally themed exhibitions as well as their environmental behavioral intentions. This study also confirmed that attachment to exhibitions, a temporary space, can play an important mediating role between environmental beliefs and intentions to engage in pro-environmental behavior. The exhibition dependency, in particular, acts as a mediator between environmental beliefs and pro-environmental behavior intentions. Although the mediating effect of exhibition identity is insignificant, exhibition dependence–exhibition identity as a whole has a partial mediating effect in the process of influencing exhibition audiences’ environmental behavior. This research helps to improve our understanding of how environmentally themed exhibitions influence audience behavior. It also has implications for exhibition organizers in terms of better exhibition planning, more effective information transmission, and influencing audience behavior.

What Does Network Analysis Teach Us About International Environmental Cooperation?

Over the past 70 years, the number of international environmental agreements (IEAs) has increased substantially, highlighting their prominent role in environmental governance. This paper applies the toolkit of network analysis to identify the network properties of international environmental cooperation based on 546 IEAs signed between 1948 and 2015. We identify four stylised facts that offer topological corroboration for some key themes in the IEA literature. First, we find that a statistically significant cooperation network did not emerge until early 1970, but since then the network has grown continuously in strength, resulting in higher connectivity and intensity of cooperation between signatory countries. Second, over time the network has become closer, denser and more cohesive, allowing more effective policy coordination and knowledge diffusion. Third, the network, while global, has a noticeable European imprint: initially the United Kingdom and more recently France and Germany have been the most strategic players to broker environmental cooperation. Fourth, international environmental coordination started with the management of fisheries and the sea, but is now most intense on waste and hazardous substances. The network of air and atmosphere treaties is weaker on a number of metrics and lacks the hierarchical structure found in other networks. It is the only network whose topological properties are shaped significantly by UN-sponsored treaties.

Financiamiento climático internacional y los desafíos de su catalización. Debates sobre la brecha entre necesidades climáticas y financiamiento, de Bali (2007) a París (2015)

El cambio climático es uno de los grandes desafíos de la agenda global. Para resolver estas cuestiones, desde el Plan de Acción de Bali en 2007 se ha consolidado a nivel global una arquitectura internacional de financiamiento climático altamente compleja, multi-institucional y multi-escalar. Aunque el sistema funciona en muchos casos, varios aspectos obstaculizan la capacidad de catalizar el volumen completo de recursos, así como la implementación eficiente del financiamiento para lograr cambios transformacionales importantes, particularmente en aquellas “áreas difíciles de mitigar”. Se sostiene así que el marco de un régimen policéntrico de la gobernanza financiera ambiental y de excesiva fragmentación organizacional e institucional del esquema de financiamiento de recursos climáticos, implica múltiples exigencias a nivel país que no necesariamente redundan en una asignación eficaz de las respuestas financieras al deterioro climático. Para este trabajo se utilizó un método cualitativo. Para ello se recolectaron datos a través de la revisión bibliográfica de documentos y trabajos de investigación disponibles en organismos multilaterales de crédito y de organismos especializados de la cooperación ambiental internacional. Dichos datos fueron analizados mediante un análisis temático. Con este trabajo, se pretende contribuir a las discusiones sobre cooperación internacional climática.

Problems of organization sustainable channels for international environmental cooperation in terms of new challenges on the example of the Baltic region

The presence of existing potential sources of threat and the emergence of new problem areas inevitably retains the priority of the environmental factor as one of the key foundations for the formation of an approach to regional development. Today, the growing anthropogenic load on the environment makes it inevitable to renew the agenda of international cooperation and harmonize international environmental relations. The authors pay attention to certain aspects of environmental cooperation on the example of the Baltic region, where both the most effective practice of interaction between the countries of the region has been formed, and there are issues of environmental uncertainty. The problem areas have been identified that require not only expanding the boundaries of the application of a responsible environmental policy, but, taking into account dynamic processes and their expected consequences, to find the most acceptable solutions that meet the needs of the region’s countries in ensuring environmental safety.

Transboundary air pollution from coal-fired power generation

To what extent do the short-term negative externalities of fossil fuel use traverse national borders? Transnational negative externalities are thought to motivate international environmental cooperation, but we often lack detailed data on their occurrence. Using a Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory Model (HYSPLIT), we offer global estimates of the extent of transboundary air pollution from coal-fired power generation. In an advance of the existing literature, we attribute the air pollution experienced in different locales to specific coal-fired power plants, allowing us to evaluate the extent to which pollution from the coal industry is experienced across different jurisdictions. Our results indicate that the issue is most severe in South Asia and East Asia. When weighting by the population of “receiving” locations, India is found to be the largest emitter of transboundary air pollution, followed by China. Residents of Bangladesh are found to experience the most transboundary air pollution by a wide margin.

POLSKO-UKRAIŃSKA WSPÓŁPRACA WOJSKOWA W LATACH 1992–2017

Military cooperation is an important part of international relations, alongside diplomatic, economic, cultural, and environmental cooperation. The invitation to the "joint soldier's table" brings armies together, giving them the opportunity to get to know each other. The military cooperation makes it possible to compare the structural arrangement of the armed forces, the training process, military equipment, and training experience. It is also an opportunity to learn about the latest trends in the development of combat technology. Due to it, the risk of an outbreak of open armed conflict significantly decreases, which contributes to strengthening international security. The military cooperation is a very important element of international security because "mature" states see in this form of contact both their interests and the interests of the partners. The history and traditions of Polish-Ukrainian military contacts are as long as the relations between the two nations. Intensive military cooperation dates back to the mid-sixteenth century. Its basis was the pursuit of military development of the Cossacks, which are a paramilitary form of self-organization of the local society. The next chapter of Polish-Ukrainian military cooperation began shortly after the end of World War I. While analyzing the political and military situation, the Polish state authorities noticed Ukraine's significance for the future balance of power in Central and Eastern Europe and its impact on Poland's security in the East. That was of particular importance in the context of the growing threat from Bolshevik Russia. The arrangements made on 14 January 1992 during the visit of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Colonel-General Konstantin Morozov. In formal terms, the legal basis for cooperation was the Kyiv Agreement between the Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Poland and the Minister of Defense of Ukraine on cooperation in the military field which was signed on 3 February 1993.