Russia and Its Neighbors - Comparing Environmental Policies in 16 Countries - page 230

In 2007 Russia surprised the world by staking a claim to the seabed
beneath the Arctic Ocean. Its economic value was its potential for oil, esti-
mated at ten billion tons. A robotic Russian submarine literally planted
a flag 4,200 meters under the ocean at the North Pole on an undersea
geological formation called the Lomonosov Ridge, claiming it was an
extension of the land. Recent warming of the Arctic Ocean due to global
warming made exploitation of the region a possibility. Most of the ridge is
shallower, about 200 meters deep. The legal basis was slight. The Law of the
Sea Treaty, signed by 153 countries, limits such exploitation to 200 miles
offshore for an Economic Zone. Russia maintained that this situation was
different because the Lomonosov Ridge was geologically part of the main-
land. Such disputes are supposed to be decided by the UN Commission on
the Limits of the Continental Shelf, a panel of experts established in the
Law of the Sea. The United States is the only country that has never ratified
this treaty.
Successor Republics: When the Soviet Union collapsed, Ukraine was
the second largest of the 15 successor republics in terms of population
and industrialization. With 46 million people, its population is about the
size of Italy. Its economy was battered, and its GDP fell to less than 40%
of the 1991 level in 8 years. Since then it has improved, and the GDP is
$305 billion based on purchasing power parity. Its per capita income is
$6,700, almost a Third World level. Since 2000 the growth has been up to
7% annually, but now is 4%. Air quality is bad, and with antiquated indus-
try based heavily on coal, Ukraine produces 348 million tons of carbon
dioxide a year, making it the 12th worst in the world. It has the high-
est carbon intensity in the world, that is, the ratio between carbon and
the value of the output. The country still suffers from the aftereffects of
the Chernobyl accident. It gets a quarter of its electricity from the atom,
and until 2000 continued to use Reactor No. 3 at Chernobyl, the sister to
Reactor No. 4, the one that melted down. Closing inefficient factories has
decreased air pollution, but more automobiles have partially countered
that beneficial trend.
Because it is short of all fuels except coal, Ukraine imports much natu-
ral gas from Russia, a dependence that has resulted in much controversy.
Since 1993 there have been frequent disputes on the quantity and price.
The Russian gas exported to Europe goes through Ukrainian pipelines,
and the Russians accuse the Ukrainians of stealing large quantities. While
the Europeans pay a high price, the Ukrainians were given a large dis-
count as former members of the Soviet Union. Now Russia has grown