Decoupling in Environmental and Economic Development of Regions-Participants of Cross-Border Cooperation

• Main Author: Zabelina Irina A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Russian Academy of Sciences, Vologda Research Center 2019-03-01
• Series: Economic and Social Changes: Facts, Trends, Forecast
• Subjects: economic development; decoupling; negative environmental impact; natural resources; environmental capacity; regions of cross-border cooperation
• Online Access: http://esc.vscc.ac.ru/article/28085/full?_lang=en

Moving towards “green” economy is currently a priority direction for the development of many countries, including Russia. One of the key aspects of the concept of green economy is achieving decoupling or misalignment of economic growth rates, resource consumption and negative environmental impact. The purpose of the article is to analyze the decoupling of negative environmental impact and resource consumption in economic activity in border regions of the Russian East and the entities of the Baikal region with cross-border economic relations with China. The research novelty lies in identifying the possible impact of cross-border position on environmental and economic development of the areas under review. Long-term experience of cooperation with the neighboring state demonstrates that prospects are followed by environmental problems since the economy of Siberian and Far Eastern regions is consistently focused on raw materials. The decoupling coefficient is calculated to identify the misalignment between economic growth rates and environmental pollution. The use of natural values as an economic result in calculations distinguishes this study from similar works focusing mainly on analyazing cost indicators. The results of eco-economic analysis show that in regions of cross-border cooperation, decoupling is manifested in discharge of contaminated wastewater. Decoupling was also revealed in most cases due to the negative impact on the atmosphere. However, economic development in some regions is accompanied by increasing air pollution, which is most evident when considering the situation in terms of most common pollutants and main economic activities. It has been established that rapid development of cross-border relations with China does not significantly change the situation in the Eastern regions. Further research prospects are related to detailed study of the aspects of eco-economic development of basic industries in Russia and the regions of cross-border cooperation