The climate regime and domestic politics: the case of Russia

The literature on climate cooperation focuses primarily on intergovernmental institutions and national policies. Few studies have examined the 'second image reversed' question: what is the impact of the international climate regime on domestic politics? This article examines the impact of the Kyoto Protocol on climate politics in Russia. Russia is an important case study both from a theoretical and policy perspective. Analytically, the case provides an opportunity to assess alternative theories of regime impact, given Russia's early scepticism about climate change and insistence on unrestrained economic growth. The study finds that the Kyoto Protocol influenced political interests in Russia first and foremost through the redistribution of resources and potential payoffs, but also through more subtle mechanisms such as capacity building and the diffusion of economic assessments. The result was a realignment of powerful domestic interests in a direction that has supported the main institutions of the climate regime and pushed for its implementation. Documenting the domestic political impacts of the Kyoto Protocol has policy implications for the conditions under which Russia and other large emerging markets focused on growth might undertake obligations to strengthen climate cooperation.