Ecological Assessment of Changes in Regional Industrial Structures in Russia at the Beginning of the 21st Century

Abstract

Structural changes in the industry of the Russian regions for 2005–2019 are assessed from an ecological perspective. The decrease in the share of mining and the share of hazardous activities in industry was considered as an ecologicaly progressive change in the regional industrial structure (its greening), and the opposite change was assessed as de-ecologization. The absolute majority of the main mining regions of the country have increased the extraction of mineral resources, while in half of them it has increased by more than 1.5 times, and in a quarter–more than by half. The north-eastern vector of the development of the country’s mining industry has been clearly identified, which determines the relative shift of large-scale impacts on nature to Eastern Siberia, the Far East, the European North–to ecologically significant and easily vulnerable landscapes of the cryolithozone, as well as to shelf areas. The number of regions where the share of the extractive industry in industrial output exceeds 50% has increased from 9 to 14. In 2/5 of Russian regions, the share of environmentally hazardous industries in the manufacturing sector has noticeably increased. In regions where nature-intensive production is significantly reduced (the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Republic of Tatarstan), industries of primary processing of raw materials appear, which are also not environmentally friendly. Only in Belgorod, Kaliningrad, and Murmansk oblasts industrial structures in general and their processing sectors have become more environmentally friendly. Interregional differences in the level of environmental friendliness of industrial structures have intensified. Difficulties of a methodological and informational nature did not make it possible to establish the relationship between structural changes in the regional industry and the dynamics of impacts on natural components.