Presentation of the HSE Institute for Economics of Natural Resources and Climate Change
The event was opened by Alexander Balyshev, Vice Rector of HSE University and Senior Director for Basic Research. In his welcoming remarks, he highlighted the growing relevance of the climate and natural resources agenda, as well as the importance of advancing both fundamental and applied research in this field. According to him, the establishment of the new Institute clearly demonstrates how ambitious young research teams are capable of delivering significant results.
Anastasia Likhacheva, Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at HSE University, noted that the Institute’s research agenda covers a broad range of global economic issues, including climate change, the green transition, water resources management, and trade barriers related to low-carbon and carbon-intensive technologies. Within the Institute’s structure, she will also head the Centre for Water Resources Research.
Igor Makarov, Director of the Institute, recalled that the Institute was established on the basis of the Laboratory for Climate Change Economics founded in 2019. He presented the team’s key achievements and flagship outputs, including the unique BRICS Climate database. Igor Makarov emphasised that, compared to the Laboratory, the Institute will pursue a much broader research agenda: studies of water resources, the Arctic region, and business practices in sustainable development will be expanded, while the economic modelling component applied to environmental challenges will be significantly strengthened.
Presenting the main areas of activity of the Centre for Economic Modelling of Natural Resources and the Environment, its Director Dmitry Skrypnik noted that the diversity of factors and effects in the interaction between the economy and the environment necessitates the development of new modelling tools. He stressed that the Centre’s team has unique expertise in the quantitative assessment of social and economic impacts, and that the research results will be published in leading Russian and international academic journals.
The Institute will also include a Centre for Interdisciplinary Arctic Studies—a region that concentrates substantial natural resources while simultaneously facing acute challenges related to climate change. The Centre’s key research areas will focus on logistics, international cooperation, and sustainable development in the Arctic. The Centre will be headed by Irina Strelnikova.
A separate part of the programme was devoted to the presentation of a special issue of the journal Contemporary World Economy focused on the green transformation of the global economy. Speakers included the issue’s authors: Sergey Bobylev, Professor and Head of the Department of Sustainable Development Economics and Environmental Management at Lomonosov Moscow State University; Igor Bashmakov, Director of the Centre for Energy Efficiency – XXI Century; Alexey Kokorin, Climate Advisor at the Nature and People Foundation; and Egor Muravev, expert at the Laboratory for Climate Change Economics at HSE University. They presented the main findings of their research. The session was moderated by Igor Makarov.
The event concluded with an expert discussion on the outcomes of the 30th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30), held in Belém, Brazil. The discussion was moderated by Irina Kalacheva, a sustainable development expert and author of the Telegram channel Green Lady ESG.
Sofya Litvinova, Deputy Head of the Department for Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects at the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, noted that the conference revealed growing contradictions between developed and developing countries. While developing countries were highly active, the United States was effectively absent, and European delegations focused on developing a roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels—an approach that sparked dissatisfaction among many representatives of the developing world.
Igor Makarov emphasised that breakthrough outcomes should not be expected from Conferences of the Parties: even the agreement on relatively modest goals and documents, such as the indicators of the Global Goal on Adaptation or the framework for a just transition, can be seen as a positive step forward. At the same time, he noted that much media attention focused on the absence of a provision on limiting fossil fuel extraction in the final resolution, which disappointed part of the environmental community.
Evgeny Khilinsky, Vice President of Gazprombank, pointed out that the Chinese pavilion attracted the largest number of visitors at COP30, and that China’s dominance was also evident in the informal agenda. He added that the conference’s business programme actively discussed issues of adaptation, the development of carbon markets, and the use of rare earth metals to support the green transformation of the economy.
