Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen1; 1 Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland
Discussion
This paper examines renewable energy initiatives and policymaking in Kazakhstan and Russia. Both countries are hydrocarbon-rich states or Petrostates and therefore prior research has predominantly focused on oil and gas extraction and policymaking in these countries. Driven by global developments in renewables deployment, technological advances and economies of scale, as well as climate mitigation pledges announced by great powers such as USA, EU and China, political and economic leaders in Kazakhstan and Russia have started to adopt the language of promoting the “green economy”. This paper looks specifically at the policy process how and by whom renewable energy has been advanced, and how Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine since 2022 has changed the posture concerning renewables in these countries. The hypothesis is that in Kazakhstan policymaking on and deployment of renewable energies have intensified since 2022, whereas in Russia the drive to increase production of renewable energies visible in the late 2010’s has been significantly reduced.
