Environmental issues raised during Moscow electoral campaigns (2013 – 2019)

National research Moscow State University of Civil Engineering, Yaroslavskoye sh. 26, Moscow, 129337, Russia

^* Corresponding author: andreev-i-v@yandex.ru

Abstract

The report analyzes the positions of the main political parties of Russia on the content, causes and ways to overcome the environmental problems of the capital region. During the discussions preceding the elections of Moscow authorities in 2013-2019, political parties and their candidates pointed to such acute environmental problems as air pollution, lack of adequate technologies for processing household waste, degradation of water bodies, reduction of green space. The author draws attention to the difference in the methods of coverage of environmental issues by Progovernment and opposition candidates. Pro-governmental candidates sought to draw the attention of the citizens to the obvious positive results of their previous activities and plans for future. However, these seemingly trivial approaches were based on a very detailed long-term urban strategy of the New environmental policy adopted by the government of Moscow in 2014 and designed for the period up to 2030. Opposition candidates emphasized the extreme severity of environmental problems, harshly criticized the environmental policy of the city administration, tried to identify social and class groups that impede the implementation of effective environmental measures. As a result, the positive proposals of the opposition were more «multidimensional», including several measures to rationalize and democratize the decision-making process in the environmental sphere and to undermine the capacity of social agents who prevented overcoming the environmental crisis in the capital.