Russia in American Climate Strategies

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the role of the Russian Federation in American plans to combat global warming. In the context of the Soviet and Russian participation in solving environmental problems, the possibility of using the potential of interaction between Moscow and Washington, previously developed in the climate sphere, to initiate constructive relations is analyzed. It is indicated that since the beginning of the 21st century, the Russian Federation has shifted its focus in this area from reducing carbon emissions to neutralizing them, as well as adapting to changes. The administration of J. Biden criticized this approach because it sought to draw Russia into the United States’ anti-Chinese climate plans based on a general reduction in emissions. However, in the ranks of the American political class, the administration’s approach did not have full support. Within the Democratic Party, a group of centrists believed that Moscow had chosen the right climate strategy for itself, and therefore, the administration’s “separate” policy could be quite effective. Their fellow party members from the progressive camp denied the “separate” approach and talked about the possibility of serious strategic concessions to Russia for climate cooperation. In the Republican Party, “moderate realists” argued that Russia’s climate strategy has more minuses than pluses for the country, and the West should have chosen a policy of combining pressure on the Russian Federation with incentives for regional cooperation. Experts from the conservative group feared that in the context of the radical “green transit” of the Biden administration, Russia’s climate policy could give Moscow a military and geopolitical advantage. In general, most political groups in the United States are confident that Russia, although it does not agree with Western methods of combating warming, will not get off the green trajectory. It is concluded that in the previous period, a fairly solid foundation of the climate dialogue between the United States and Russia had been formed, and the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine only preserved it, but did not destroy.