Implementation of the “green growth” concept in the Russian Arctic (on the example of the Murmansk region)

The article presents the results of studying the possibilities for reconciling environmental and social sustainability with economic growth in the Russian Arctic in the context of the “green growth” concept. Analyzing the practices of municipal solid waste and mining waste management in the Murmansk region, the researchers have identified the following: aspects of the existing policy that will contribute to “green growth” in the future; the potential for creating new green jobs; the degree of awareness of the “green growth” concept among specialists. The study shows that national and regional waste management legislation generally contributes to the creation of conditions for “green growth”. The next step in enhancing a green growth policy should be measures to stimulate investment in the creation of markets of secondary resources. It is also necessary to simplify the procedure for access to the processing of mining waste for small and medium enterprises, they are more mobile and may be economically interested in processing small volumes of waste. The analysis of investments in waste management industry shows that in the case of municipal solid waste, legislation has stimulated the creation of new capacities and a significant number of “green jobs”. In the case of mining waste, investments directly in waste processing are sporadic, but investments are made to reduce the negative impact on the environment and to increase resource and energy efficiency. There is very little awareness of the “green growth” concept among all the actors involved in waste management. This creates a fragmented space for the “green growth” policy implementation, which prevents a more complete involvement of intellectual resources in the “green growth” process.