| Global environmental change is the important part of contemporary international relations concerning how states actors build their national policies to tackle environmental threats.A range of key international processes of environmental commitments aims to create appropriate conditions for the establishment the system for environmental monitoring and assessment,environmental agreements and negotiations.Global environmental cooperation based on concluded agreements and protocol brings the positive results,however,it is remaining hard for states policymakers to balance between national policies interest and environmental obligations.Air and water pollution,biodiversity losses,deterioration of health environment results from rapid industrial and economic growth.Environmental problems spread and extend the borders of the significant number of countries and their neighboring zones,it is hard to return to environmental balance in the global level.Hence,regional frameworks of environmental governance can become one of the solutions.Cooperation in regional level allows to concentrate on the problem,helps to keep persistent dialogue,keep negotiations and express mutual interest in tackling environmental problems.The present thesis research uses the unique case study of the regional practice of environmental governance based in cooperation on environment between Barents EuroArctic Region(BEAR)countries.The present research aimed to answer following research questions: Why cooperation on environmental "hot spots" in the Russian part of Barents Euro-Arctic region became a high priority for Barents Euro-Arctic Region countries cooperation? Why environmental governance constructed by Barents Euro-Arctic Region countries successfully work on environmental "hot spots" issues? The hypothesis of the thesis based on assumption that that institutional standing of international cooperation on environment in Barents Euro-Arctic Region helps countries to tackle environmental issues in ecological "hot spots".Barents Euro-Arctic Council as international interregional institution consolidates the high level authorities of Russia,Norway,Sweden,Finland,and maintains the structural facets of environmental cooperation,and the Nordic Environmental Finance Corporation represents the financial tool for cooperation institutionalization in the region.Synergy of work conducted by institutions creates conditions for monitoring,sharing an information regarding ecology and measures taken and needed to be taken.Therefore,the purpose of the thesis,first,was to analyze from the theoretical perspective why states go to cooperate with each other.Comprehensive analysis of literature in international relations with different approaches has been conducted.Theoretical research allows to observe what is understood by term cooperation as itself and explains how international institutions can lead the states to their common goals.Regional aspects for cooperation on environment is the second goal of research.Regional cooperation as itself,can increase the effectiveness of global frameworks.The environmental domain of regional cooperation on environment can be explained by interdependence between regionalism and globalization,which are the tendencies of contemporary development of the world.The purpose of this master's thesis was to figure out how regional international institutions can help to maintain effective environmental governance.With usingthe case study of Barents Euro-Arctic region cooperation,the research of present thesis represents was conducted from analysis of BEAR countries regional policies and priorities.Barents Euro-Arctic region is the part of national policies of countries in Arctic dimension.Environment management and protection are one of the main spheres of countries policies in Arctic Region as a whole,and Barents Euro-Arctic region,therefore,automatically becomes the region where environment protection policies are required to be implemented.The present master's thesis analyzes the effectiveness of Barents Euro-Arctic Council as the institutional platform for international environmental cooperation on ecological "hot spots" in the Russian part of the Barents Euro-Arctic region.Relying on official documents,thesis gives the explanation why environmental "hot spots" became the international concern for BEAR countries.The first assumption is anxiety that environmental issues can obtain transboundary character.The second assumption is that countries follow the aim of regional sustainable development which is inextricably linked with environmental stability not only of their own country.In the conditions of ecological and economic interdependence,imbalances of one side can rise the possibility of imbalances of another side.Third,the Russian territory where environmental "hot spots" are located is a part of Arctic zone,and it's ecological conditions automatically become the zone of interests of countries attached to the Arctic.The evaluation of cooperation effectiveness is based on comparison of environmental conditions within one period of time and in real actions made by member countries.All the work is divided into an introduction part,three chapters,which help to prove the main argument,and conclusion.The first chapter of research represents research background where we discuss the relevance of chosen topic,give a brief information about environmental "hot spots" in the Barents Euro-Arctic region and how they became the agenda for international cooperation on environment between Barents Euro-Arctic region countries.The first chapter posed the main question and arguments,and following them hypothesis.The significance of research based on comprehensive literature review is indicated in the first chapter.The second chapter describes the theoretical base of our research.It analyzes how international cooperation finds the reflection in theories of international relations.As we selected neoliberal institutionalism as theoretical framework for our research,this chapter provides with discourse about how Neoliberalism and Neoliberal institutionalism explain international cooperation.International cooperation established by international institutions and it's contribution to environmental governance are discussed in this chapter.The third chapter contains the analysis of prerequisites and reasons of the regional environmental governance emergence in BEAR.The fourth chapter describes institutional model of regional cooperation on environment in BEAR,gives the definition to environmental "hot spots",justifies the reasons for international concerns about potential environmental threats coming from "hot spots",and finally,opens the answers to the research questions regarding to the role of institutional cooperation and it's effectiveness in tackling environmental issues in BEAR.The conclusion part summarizes conducted research,figures out to what extent this thesis answers the research questions,verify argument and prove the hypothesis.The significance of research of this master thesis is based on the potential to fill the lacunas in international relations discourse related to environmental governance,international cooperation on environment and to the role of international institutions in environmental protection cooperation.It will be the contribution to the development of regional studies,provide policy makers with the instrumental set of possible policy implications in the field of environmental protection in the regions with the same issues.Moreover,it will be a showcase of effective strategies in environmental governance building via institutions that provide actions to reduce the pressures on environment.Analysis of working mechanisms that directed to environmental issues can provide researchers,scholars and policy-makers with understanding how states go for cooperation on environment and arrange institutions,and why some of these institutions are more successful than others. |
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