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Opportunities for Climate Litigation in Russia: The Impossibility of the Possible

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Comparative Climate Change Litigation: Beyond the Usual Suspects

Part of the book series: Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law ((GSCL,volume 47))

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Abstract

This overview looks at the opportunities for litigating on climate change grounds in Russia. It should be noted from the start that no such case has taken place in the country; nor has there been policy or academic debate on the issue. The overview first introduces the reader to the Russian legal system and environmental law framework as well as climate change law and policy before providing answers in respect of the three scenarios suggested by the editors of the book: claims against the government; claims against decisions by public bodies; and claims against private actors. The concluding part summarises the chapter and discusses potential legal pathways to effective litigation on climate change grounds in Russia.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Pomeranz and Gutbrod (2012) and Burkov (2011).

  2. 2.

    OECD (2006).

  3. 3.

    Ibid.

  4. 4.

    Federal Law ‘On the Protection of the Environment’ (N 7-FZ, 10 January 2002), art 28.1.

  5. 5.

    Such technologies are listed in industry-specific guides. See also Shuvalova (2018).

  6. 6.

    Newell and Henry (2017).

  7. 7.

    OECD (2006).

  8. 8.

    Ibid.

  9. 9.

    Ibid.

  10. 10.

    Hendley (2015), p. 547.

  11. 11.

    Newell and Henry (2017), p. 12. See also Darby (2017).

  12. 12.

    Federal Law ‘On Amendments to Selected Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation Relating to the Regulation of the Activities of Non-profit Organisations Functioning as Foreign Agents’ (N 121-FZ, 20 July 2012).

  13. 13.

    Newell and Henry (2017), p. 15.

  14. 14.

    See Tarasenko et al. (2017).

  15. 15.

    Order by the President of the Russian Federation ‘On the Climate Doctrine of the Russian Federation’ (N 861-rp, 17 December 2009).

  16. 16.

    Decree by the President of the Russian Federation ‘On Reducing Emissions of GHGs’ (N 752, 30 September 2013).

  17. 17.

    Ministry for Economic Development of the Russian Federation (2013).

  18. 18.

    Kokorin and Korppoo (2017).

  19. 19.

    Submission by the Russian Federation to the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (1 April 2015), <http://www4.unfccc.int/Submissions/INDC/Published%20Documents/Russia/1/Russian%20Submission%20INDC_eng_rev1.doc>.

  20. 20.

    See further explanation in Kokorin and Korppoo (2017), p. 8.

  21. 21.

    ‘Ministry for Economic Development: Russia has a significant GHG mitigation potential’ (Regional Energy and Energy Efficiency, 23 December 2016) <https://energy.s-kon.ru/minekonomrazvitiya-u-rossii-est-znachitelnyj-potentsial-sokrashheniya-vybrosov-parnikovyh-gazov/> accessed 10 February 2018.

  22. 22.

    Order by the Government of the Russian Federation ‘On Adoption of the Comprehensive Implementation Plan for the Climate Doctrine of the Russian Federation up to 2020’ (N 730-r, 25 April 2011).

  23. 23.

    Order by the Government of the Russian Federation ‘On Adoption of the Plan of Actions in Support of Reducing GHG Emissions by 2020 to Levels of No More than 75 % of the Emissions of 1990’ (N 504-r, 2 April 2014).

  24. 24.

    Order by the Government of the Russian Federation ‘On Adoption of the Implementation Plan for Measures to Strengthen State Regulation of GHG Emissions (alongside the Implementation Plan for Measures to Strengthen State Regulation of GHG Emissions and Preparation for Ratification of the Paris Agreement, Adopted on 12 December 2015 by the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’ (N 2344-r, 3 November 2016).

  25. 25.

    Order by the Government of the Russian Federation ‘On Adoption of the Concept for the Development of System to Monitor, Report and Verify GHG Emissions in the Russian Federation’ (N 716-r, 22 April 2015).

  26. 26.

    Kokorin and Korppoo (2017), p. 10.

  27. 27.

    Davydova (2017).

  28. 28.

    Carle (2015).

  29. 29.

    Kokorin and Korppoo (2017), pp. 1–3.

  30. 30.

    Ibid, 2–3.

  31. 31.

    Yamineva (2013) and Rowe (2009).

  32. 32.

    See n. 29, 1–2.

  33. 33.

    See for instance Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet), Second Roshydromet Assessment Report on Climate Change and Its Consequences in Russian Federation: General Summary (Moscow, 2014).

  34. 34.

    See n. 28, 2–3.

  35. 35.

    Decree by the President of the Russian Federation ‘On Strategy for Environmental Security of the Russian Federation up to 2025’ (N 176, 19 April 2017), art 19.

  36. 36.

    Order by the Government of the Russian Federation (n 24).

  37. 37.

    Senova and Uspenskaya (2017).

  38. 38.

    Rajamani (2016).

  39. 39.

    2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change, FCCC/CP/2015/L.9/Rev.1, art 4.2.

  40. 40.

    Ibid, art 15(4).

  41. 41.

    Ibid.

  42. 42.

    Burkov (2017).

  43. 43.

    Gerber (2017), pp. 316–317.

  44. 44.

    Ibid.

  45. 45.

    Pomeranz (2012).

  46. 46.

    Constitution of the Russian Federation (12 December 1993).

  47. 47.

    Ibid, art 46.

  48. 48.

    Russia’s relationship with the Court has not been easy. Cases filed by Russians in the ECtHR are numerous and sometimes repetitive while ideological opposition to its judgements among some political elites has been strengthening. See Mälksoo and Benedek (2017).

  49. 49.

    Federal Law ‘On the Protection of the Environment’ (n 4), art 11.

  50. 50.

    Resolution by the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ‘On the Application by Courts of the Legislation on Responsibility for the Violations in the Area of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Management’ (N 21, 18 October 2012).

  51. 51.

    The Civil Code of the Russian Federation, Part II (N 14-FZ, 26 January 1996), art 1064.

  52. 52.

    Federal Law ‘On the Protection of the Environment’ (n 4), art 79.

  53. 53.

    Federal Law ‘On the Protection of Atmospheric Air’ (N 96-FZ, 4 May 1999), art 29.2.

  54. 54.

    The Civil Code (n 51), art 1064 para 3.

  55. 55.

    Ibid, art 1064 para 2.

  56. 56.

    Ibid, art 1079. The legislation contains a list of activities which are considered publicly dangerous.

  57. 57.

    The Civil Code (n 51), art 1065 para 2.

  58. 58.

    Resolution by the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ‘On Some Issues of Applying the Legislation on Compensation for Damage Caused to the Environment’ (N 49, 30 November 2017).

  59. 59.

    The Civil Code (n 51), art 1065 para 2; Federal Law ‘On the Protection of the Environment’ (n 4), art 80.

  60. 60.

    Vasilyeva (2017), p. 15.

  61. 61.

    Ibid.

  62. 62.

    The Siberian Times reporter (2016).

  63. 63.

    The same phenomena have been reported in the Chukotka region. See Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (2017), p. 35.

  64. 64.

    Forbes et al. (2016).

  65. 65.

    For instance, Federal Law ‘On Guarantees of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the Russian Federation’ (N 82-FZ, 30 April 1999), art 8 para 8. Specific arrangements are also possible between communities and companies through benefit-sharing agreements which specify compensation for damages. See Tulaeva and Tysiachniouk (2017).

  66. 66.

    Federal Law ‘On Guarantees of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,’ (n 65), art 12.

  67. 67.

    See also Lliuya v RWE AG, Indicative Court Order and Order for the Hearing of Evidence (Higher Regional Court of Hamm, 30 November 2017).

  68. 68.

    However, contribution of Gasprom of which Gasprom Neft is a subsidiary has been quantified in Heede (2014).

  69. 69.

    Federal Law ‘On the Protection of the Environment’ (n 4), art 11 para 2.

  70. 70.

    Ibid, art 77.

  71. 71.

    Federal Law ‘On the Protection of the Environment’ (n 4), art 1.

  72. 72.

    Russian legal scholars seem to be of the same opinion. See Dubovik, ed. (2016).

  73. 73.

    Federal Law ‘On the Protection of the Environment’ (n 4), art 77.

  74. 74.

    Resolution by the Plenum of the Supreme Court (n 58).

  75. 75.

    Federal Law ‘On the Protection of the Environment’ (n 4), art 78 para 3.

  76. 76.

    The Civil Code (n 51), art 1082; Federal Law ‘On the Protection of the Environment’ (n 4), art 78.

  77. 77.

    Resolution by the Plenum of the Supreme Court (n 58).

  78. 78.

    Ibid.

  79. 79.

    Ibid.

  80. 80.

    Code of Administrative Proceedings of the Russian Federation (N21-FZ, 8 March 2015), chapter 21.

  81. 81.

    Ibid, art 208.

  82. 82.

    Ibid, art 209.

  83. 83.

    Ibid, art 213 para 8.

  84. 84.

    Ibid, art 213 para 9.

  85. 85.

    Ibid, art 216 para 4.

  86. 86.

    Ibid, art 217.1.

  87. 87.

    Ibid, chapter 22.

  88. 88.

    Federal Constitutional Law ‘On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation’ (N1-FKZ, 21 July 1994), art 3.

  89. 89.

    Ibid, art 12 para 1.

  90. 90.

    Ibid.

  91. 91.

    Definition by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on the Refusal to Accept the Complaint by Valentin Kuznetsov, Zagit Murtazin and Natalia Oleinik on the Violation of Their Constitutional Rights by Articles 11 and 12 of the Federal Law ‘On the Protection of the Environment’ (N 1003-O, 26 May 2016).

  92. 92.

    Civil Code (n 51), art 16.

  93. 93.

    However, there have been calls for divestment on other grounds: for instance, with the goal of diversifying the economy and making it less vulnerable to the volatility of oil prices.

  94. 94.

    Ministry for Finance of the Russian Federation (2015).

  95. 95.

    In 2016, due to decreased oil prices, the oil and gas revenues of the federal budget were around 35%. Ministry for Finance of the Russian Federation (2017).

  96. 96.

    Invest.com (2018).

  97. 97.

    Federal Law ‘On Investing Funds for Financing a Funded Pension in the Russian Federation’ (N 111-FZ, 24 July 2002), art 10.

  98. 98.

    Ibid, art 12; Federal Law ‘On Non-State Pension Funds’ (N 75-FZ, 7 May 1998), art 36 para 14.

  99. 99.

    Federal Law ‘On Investing Funds’ (n 97) art 12; Federal Law ‘On Non-State Pension Funds’ (n 98) art 24.

  100. 100.

    United Nations Environment Programme (2017).

  101. 101.

    Fadeeva v Russia App no 55723/00 (ECtHR, 9 June 2005), 16.

  102. 102.

    OECD (2006).

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Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank Anton Burkov, Angelina Davydova and Vilena Valeeva for their useful suggestions.

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  1. Centre for Climate, Energy and Environmental Law, Law School, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland

    Yulia Yamineva

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  1. Law School, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

    Francesco Sindico

  2. Faculty of Law, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Makane Moïse Mbengue

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Yamineva, Y. (2021). Opportunities for Climate Litigation in Russia: The Impossibility of the Possible. In: Sindico, F., Mbengue, M.M. (eds) Comparative Climate Change Litigation: Beyond the Usual Suspects. Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law, vol 47. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46882-8_27

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