| Summary: | This chapter discusses the effect of the concepts of environmental sustainability, ecological safety, and green growth on the state of the natural environment and the lives of the people in Russia. The chapter focuses on trends and cases in environmental pollution (air, forests, water, and soil), climate change, the energy sector, and the Arctic. Over the three post-Soviet decades, Russia has gone through many changes in environmental governance. The main environmental achievements concern increased energy efficiency and a reduction in the extent of industrial pollution. However, overall progress towards a greener society has been slow, hindered by the reliance of the national economy on natural resource extraction, political inertia, limited public environmental control, poor law enforcement, and insufficient respect for civil rights. We highlight the policy gap in the area of environmental justice and frame ‘green growth’ problems as ‘environmental justice’ problems.
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