Environmental risks to Sino-Russian transboundary cooperation: from brown plans to a green strategy.

This study aims to identify environmental economic issues of Sino-Russian transboundary cooperation and to initiate a broad discussion with the purpose of finding solutions for the many acute environmental issues associated with economic cooperation between the two countries. It also aims to facilitate the cooperation between governmental economic agencies and environmentalists with respect to the greening of “brown” regional development plans and the development of “green” strategies in order to guide Russia’s transition to a more sustainable economic system in the post-crisis period – as is occurring already in other rapidly growing economies, including China. The study analyzes development strategies and programs of the border regions; programs of transboundary cooperation between Russia and China; environmental risks associated with individual resource-intensive sectors; as well as approaches to the greening of economies and natural resource management in both countries. It also provides practical recommendations aimed at the governments of Russia and China, as well as at the environmental and business communities in these two countries.