Letter From the Editors

President Trump, who has vilified the green agenda as the “Green New Scam” and has an energy secretary who denies that carbon pollution is a problem, withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement immediately following his inauguration. This move left many nations questioning the significance of this landmark document and seeking new ways to address climate change. In this regard, a new report by Russia’s Climate Policy and Economics Center and the Andrei Melnichenko Foundation says that, for Russia, now is the perfect time to “advocate for more efficient and fair climate policy mechanisms while advancing its own long-term, strategic interests” by joining forces with BRICS nations and the larger Global South.

For example, the report’s authors believe that a carbon credit market within BRICS might help these countries “deliver on their climate commitments in a more efficient and less costly way, without slowing down their economic growth.” Another idea they present is to promote Russia as a “carbon haven” where companies that make products with a large carbon footprint can use “the potential the Russian market presents for climate projects” to neutralize this footprint. According to Ivan Zhidkikh, “Such an approach would attract investors, create new jobs and strengthen Russia’s position in the world as global competition becomes more intense.” And as Aleksandr Yakovenko confirms in an article for Ekspert, the “new climate world order” will require a “low-emissions transformation,” something Russia can deploy to its advantage as it seeks to expand its economic development.

The social aspect of the green agenda was on display this week in Serbia, where protests by students and education workers flared after a brief lull. The demonstrations began in November, when an awning at a train station in Novi Sad collapsed due to shoddy construction, killing 14 people. Now, as Balkans expert Aleksandar Djokic explains in Novaya, the protesters, who have tired of President Aleksandr Vucic’s authoritarian rule, have “shifted from relatively neutral demands around the idea of fighting corruption to more political ones,” including early parliamentary elections. While many Serbian opposition groups have supported the protesters in their call for early elections, the protesters themselves are not interested in getting behind the opposition, since they question its motives. Instead, they are seeking to create their own slate of candidates.

So will the student movement succeed in its quest for transparency? It’s not entirely clear. As Djokic explains, the student activists’ problem is their unwillingness to work with other groups that “are participating in the same fight for democracy, the rule of law and a reduction in corruption.” However, he concludes, “mutual radicalization” by students and security forces alike could bring “previously neutral social groups” over to the students’ side, posing a threat to the regime that Vucic would not be able to ignore.

Meanwhile, back in Russia, the RFCP is also pursuing an important part of the green agenda – Indigenous sovereignty and consent. As Darya Garmonenko reports in NG, the Communists are breaking out the “map of ethnic composition” in an attempt to fight a municipal reform supported by United Russia that would eliminate local self-government bodies, a move they say will result in greater political instability. And, counter to United Russia’s position that “people do not vote based on ethnicity,” the Communists are trying to run more members of small Indigenous peoples on their tickets. With their historical support for the former Soviet Union’s “titular nations,” Aleksei Makarkin says, “betting on the ethnic topic is natural for all Communists.” But he takes a cynical view, insinuating that “because of its losses in the electorate, the RFCP is seeking any support it can get by designating itself as the universal opposition party and protector of all ethnic interests.”

Thus, the examples in this week’s issue make it clear that enlightened self-interest will have to be the driving force behind any green transformations. Otherwise, the agenda itself will wither and fade to brown.