International legal instruments for stimulating green building and construction business: Russian case study

• Published in: International environmental agreements : politics, law and economics Vol. 22; no. 1; pp. 157 - 175
• Main Authors: Liu, Zhi-Jiang, Snezhko, Vera, Kurilova, Anastasia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-03-2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Business; Case studies; Competition; Competitiveness; Construction; Construction industry; Earth and Environmental Science; Economics; Environment; Environmental Economics; Environmental Law/Policy/Ecojustice; Environmental Management; Environmental policy; Environmental protection; Green buildings; Green development; Human rights; International agreements; International law; International regulations; Law enforcement; Legal documents; Legal system; Legislation; Nature Conservation; Original Paper; Policy making; Political Science; Profitability; Public buildings; Public concern; Public interest; Public participation; Social responsibility; Supply chain sustainability; Supply chains; Sustainability; Sustainable development; Denmark; Aarhus Denmark; Supply chain; Aarhus Convention; Green construction; Sustainable development; Construction company; UN global compact
• ISSN: 1567-9764; 1573-1553
• DOI: 10.1007/s10784-021-09548-1

Green building is an innovative and socially significant element of enhancing environmental sustainability. The main idea behind the construction of green buildings is to increase the sustainability of the living environment, which is achieved by reducing the overall impact of buildings on the environment and human health. This undoubtedly important trend, entering into modern use and closely related to the concept of sustainable development, makes it necessary to determine what lies at the basis of its international legal regulation. The purpose of the study is to determine the place and role of international legal instruments for the formation of "green" construction and processes, related to it. The Aarhus Convention, as one of these instruments, provides dual protections for environmental and human rights, and its focus on public engagement provides a mechanism to ensure that governments are held accountable in their efforts to address the multifaceted challenges facing our world today. At the same time, the second one—the UN Global Compact—is the world's largest corporate social responsibility initiative and also directly affects the status of implementation of many modern instruments aimed at achieving sustainable development in national legal systems. Research question: What is the role of the UN Global Compact and the Aarhus Convention in stimulating green building in Russia at the present stage? Through the method of political and legal analysis used in the work, the study attempts to determine the role of the mentioned international regulatory legal acts in the field of environmental protection as a tool to stimulate green building. The study is based on the assumption that international environmental agreements have the necessary levers to influence green building, and their effective application is in the public interest. The study is based on the example of the Russian legal system in a comparative perspective. This paper discusses the impact of international instruments such as the Aarhus Convention and the United Nations Global Compact on promoting green building, the sustainable development of the construction industry and the relationship between sustainability and competitiveness when using green supply chain management (GSCM). The study gives reasons to say about the contradictory attitude of the Russian authorities to the initiative to join the Aarhus Convention, but at the same time confirms the interest of Russian business in adherence to the goals of the UN Global Compact; however, it demonstrates the fact that the issue of forming sustained commitment to the concept of green construction directly for the construction business at this stage is not among the top priorities. In this area, commitment to the principles of the UN Global Compact is in its infancy. In practical terms, the work is of interest both for business entities for assessing the commercial profitability of business processes and for policymakers in the field of adapting domestic legislative acts to international legislation and law enforcement practices.