Why Russia Doesn’t Care About Copenhagen

Yevgeny Volk / December 10, 2009

MOSCOW – The rest of the world’s passions may be boiling over in Copenhagen this week, but Russia is paying no attention.

There is an impression that the government and public opinion – quite in the classical liberal laissez faire spirit – share the conclusion that global warming has a moderate and non-unprecedented nature, its impact on human health and wildlife is largely positive and that carbon emissions are hardly the primary factor in climate shaping. Thus, it is not a crisis and there is no need to resort to massive cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

How has such an absurd situation arisen in modern Russia with strong statist traditions? Isn’t objectively existing global climate change impacting it? (more…)