Reformatting the National Environmental Agenda for Safe Business Development under Sanctions

Moreva Evgeniya L'vovna ORCID: 0000-0001-6355-7808 PhD in Economics Deputy Director of the Institute, Financial Univertcity under the Government of the Russian Federation 125315, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Chasovaya str., 18, office 118 eu7711460@mail.ru

Obolenskaya Lyudmila Vladislavna ORCID: 0000-0002-1016-9171 PhD in Technical Science Leader research associate, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation 125167, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Prospekt Leningradskiy str., 49/2, office 140 LVObolenskaya@fa.ru

Introduction. The national Environmental agenda is enshrined in a number of strategic planning documents of the Russian Federation.The main guidelines of the environmental agenda are set in Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 474 dated 21.07.2020 "On National Development Goals of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030" (hereinafter Decree No. 474).

The national goal or the target block "A comfortable and safe environment for life" is directly related to the environmental agenda. It includes three environmental goals (target indicators). The first of them focuses governing bodies and businesses on optimizing the management of solid municipal waste. The second is aimed at reducing emissions that pollute the environment. The third is to eliminate the damage caused to the environment.

The environmental agenda has been logically continued in the national project "Ecology". Here its structuring is carried out, for which, in fact, a project-target approach is used. Within the framework of this approach, 16 groups of indicators with specified target values and deadlines for achievement are identified.  The system of indicators specifies and develops various aspects of the three environmental goals from Decree No. 474. 14 federal projects focused on different components of the environment (atmosphere) have been formed to implement a given target vector. reservoirs, forests, bioresources) and the directions of its impact (protection, protection, restoration, reduction of anthropogenic load, elimination of negative consequences).

Ecology remains one of the priorities of the Russian Federation, for example, in the Arctic region, which is given special importance in the conditions of today's sanctions by unfriendly countries. At a meeting on the development of the Arctic zone, held on April 13, 2022, the President of the Russian Federation stressed the need to implement the planned plans to eliminate accumulated environmental damage, finance the monitoring of ice melting, and implement research programs in terms of nature conservation in the region.

Against the background of today's sanctions pressure, a number of problems have arisen related to the timely implementation of the environmental agenda. The Chairman of the Public Council under the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, A. Zakondyrin, highlighted the following problems encountered by Russian business in the implementation of environmental projects under sanctions ^[1]. The first problem is delays in receiving from suppliers prepaid imported equipment ordered for the implementation of environmental projects. The second serious problem is the disruption of the existing logistics supply chains of components from Europe. The third problem is the difficulty of forming workarounds for the supply of equipment and components through third countries, which may fear secondary sanctions for national companies. Against the background of problems caused by external sanctions, the task of reformatting the national environmental agenda arises.

In the context of the above, the content of the article is as follows:

- the relevance of the implementation of the national environmental agenda is studied on the example of such a strategically significant region as the Russian Arctic;

- the issues of reformatting the national environmental agenda necessary to support Russian business in the face of sanctions pressure are being considered.

- from the analysis of today's anti-sanctions measures, two key areas of reformatting stand out;

- taking into account business and environmental risks, the necessity of a balanced approach to the selected areas of reformatting is shown; a number of proposals for achieving balance are being worked out.

The research uses methods of systematic and structural analysis of scientific materials and regulatory documents, generalization and logical interpretation of the collected information, as well as risk analysis.

The relevance of the implementation of the national environmental agenda of the Russian Federation on the example of the Arctic. Let's consider the relevance of the implementation of the environmental agenda of the Russian Federation on the example of the Arctic, where it is necessary to take into account: (1) the planned intensification of industrial development, which increases the risks of the negative impact of man-made factors on environmental safety; (2) the specifics of the region, exacerbating the criticality of environmental safety problems.

Environmental issues are studied in the works of Russian and foreign authors. A significant place is occupied by the research of foreign ^[2-4] and Russian ^[5-9] scientists related to the Arctic. In the context of information support of solutions taking into account environmental safety, a special place is given to environmental monitoring ^[10-12], which is especially important for the Arctic.

A number of works highlight critical environmental safety issues generated by technogenic factors and determine the relevance of the implementation of the environmental agenda in relation to the Arctic. At the same time, the problems of land and sea Arctic territories are highlighted. Attention is also paid to the ecological problems of fresh waters ^[13-14], which are also relevant for the Arctic territories.

In relation to the Arctic land territories, researchers identify several groups of environmental safety problems ^[15-19]. Among them are various kinds of environmental pollution: chemical (sulfur and nitrogen compounds, heavy metals, etc.); petroleum (petroleum products, carbon oxides, soluble salts, etc.); radioactive (radionuclides, etc.). It is noted that mining and non-ferrous metallurgy play a significant role in chemical pollution. In oil pollution – extraction and transportation of hydrocarbon raw materials. In radioactive contamination – nuclear power plants located in the Arctic territories. The next group of problems is the accumulation of solid waste and the violation of land by mining. The negative impact of industry on the bioresources of the region is also noted. Such a problem as the deterioration of the habitual habitat of indigenous peoples is highlighted. The negative impact of environmental pollution on the health of the population living near large industrial facilities is investigated.

The problems of environmental safety in the Arctic marine territories are associated with the discharge, burial and ingress of polluting waste from economic activity into the waters of the seas ^[19-21]. This includes soils formed during mining operations, as well as waste from oil-producing enterprises and transportation companies. The negative impact of accidental releases of ships and underwater pipelines is noted. The problem of radioactive substances entering the sea waters as a result of submarines and emergency reactors flooding, liquid and solid radioactive waste disposal is highlighted. The problem of pollutants entering the sea waters through river drains and transboundary transfers is noted. All this leads to increased pollution of sea waters and the seabed, as well as a violation of the quality of seafood.

The criticality of the noted environmental safety problems generated by technogenic factors cannot be ignored in the conditions of the planned intensification of industrial development of the Arctic. At the same time, the following features of Arctic ecosystems should be taken into account: (1) fragility and vulnerability to man-made impacts; (2) weak self-healing ability; (3) accumulated environmental damage from industrial activity; (4) high risks of the transition of environmental problems of the region to the global level. All together, it reinforces the urgency of timely solving critical environmental safety problems within the framework of the implementation of the national environmental agenda.

Reformatting the national environmental agenda in the face of external sanctions. As noted above, against the background of external sanctions, the task of reformatting the national environmental agenda arises.

Reformatting should include anti-sanctions measures that support the stability of the business. At the same time, a balanced approach is needed, taking into account both business and environmental risks. On the one hand, it is desirable to reduce the financial and administrative burden on the business, to bring it into line with new realities. On the other hand, it is impossible to curtail environmental projects or postpone them for "later" if this increases the risks of serious accidents, causing irreparable damage to the environment and public health. For example, Arctic territories fall into the zone of such environmental risks, taking into account the specifics of the region.

In March of this year, the Government of the Russian Federation published a "Plan of priority actions to ensure the development of the Russian economy in the face of external sanctions pressure", including emergency measures to support business. Among them there are business support measures that weaken environmental regulations: shifting the deadlines for the implementation of these standards or temporary cancellation. A number of anti-sanctions measures have been legally enshrined in Federal Law No. 71-FZ of 26.03.2022 "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation".

The initiative of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) deserves attention (March 2022), including proposals to the Government of the Russian Federation on anti-sanctions measures affecting environmental requirements ^[22]. Among them are proposals to further reduce environmental standards for businesses, including measures to abolish fines and payments for environmental damage. Assessing this group of measures from the standpoint of environmental safety, taking into account expert opinions ^[23], it should be noted that their implementation can lead to a significant increase in environmental risks, including the risks of accidents at industrial facilities. In this context, the RSPP's proposal on state support for environmental business projects using domestic equipment is more acceptable.

With regard to the further reformatting of the environmental agenda, the following should be noted.

The analysis shows that in the anti-sanctions measures taken by the Government of the Russian Federation and proposed by the RSPP, two key directions of reformatting the environmental agenda are traced: (1) measures to temporarily weaken environmental regulations; (2) measures to support priority environmental (green) business projects, as well as domestic developers and manufacturers of environmental protection equipment. At the same time, the main attention is paid to the first direction: measures to temporarily weaken environmental regulations. However, from the standpoint of environmental safety and business preparation for improving the economic situation, it is necessary to pay sufficient attention to the second direction: measures to support priority environmental projects of business. Such a balanced approach should take into account the significant increase in risks associated with the postponement of environmental projects for the future.

Among the risks associated with postponing projects for the future, first of all, environmental risks should be highlighted, as mentioned above. They are especially relevant for extreme Arctic conditions. But there are other significant risks – entrepreneurial. This includes the risks of unpreparedness of business to meet national regulatory requirements at the time of lifting temporary environmental relief. Another group of risks is the unwillingness of businesses to meet international environmental requirements due to the reduction of programs to reduce greenhouse emissions. Domestic exporters should not lose sight of scenarios for improving the situation with exports to European markets, which requires readiness for the climate requirements of the European Union. As for the possible orientation to Asian and Latin American markets, it should be borne in mind that some countries have already introduced carbon duties in these regions, while others intend to do so in the near future ^[24].

Taking into account the time lag in obtaining output results, financial support for "green" business projects should be intensified today, including grant support and the use of accelerated depreciation of fixed capital ^[25], a favorable loan rate, tax benefits. It is necessary to encourage banks (Sberbank, VTB, Sovcombank, etc.) to significantly expand the current field of their activities to support "green" projects ^[26]. It is desirable to strengthen the role of "green" bonds, which make it possible to attract relatively cheap capital compared to bank loans ^[24]. At the same time, in order to motivate businesses to take advantage of benefits today, and not to postpone environmental projects for the future, the package of anti-sanctions benefits should be temporary and be much more attractive to companies than in the absence of sanctions.

Conclusion. Summarizing the above, we can conclude the following.

1. On the example of such a strategically significant region as the Russian Arctic, the relevance of the implementation of the national environmental agenda is investigated.

2. The issues of reformatting the national environmental agenda necessary to support Russian business in the face of sanctions pressure are considered.

3. From the analysis of today's anti-sanctions measures, two key areas of reformatting have been identified.

4. Taking into account business and environmental risks, the necessity of a balanced approach to the selected areas of reformatting is shown. At the same time, a number of proposals have been worked out to achieve a balance.

 ^[1] The article was prepared based on the results of research carried out at the expense of budgetary funds under the state assignment of the Financial University.