Institutional evolution of the Green Agenda: Global frameworks and the Russian model of pragmatic sovereignty

Aim. To examine the stages and patterns of the institutional evolution of the international Green Agenda, as well as to analyze the formation of the Russian model of climate policy in the context of global trends. Objectives. To reconstruct the logic of the development of international sustainable development mechanisms from the UN program plan Agenda 21 to the Pact for the Future; to reveal the specific character of Russian climate policy on the basis of doctrinal and regulatory documents of 2023–2024; to examine the systemic constraints on Russia’s transition to a low-carbon economy. Methods. The research employs general scientific methods, including institutional and historical-genetic analysis of international regimes, comparative analysis of global and national contexts, and content analysis of strategic and regulatory legal documents. Results. Fragmented environmental protection measures of a sectoral nature have been replaced by complexly organized governance systems that integrate interstate agreements, domestic strategic guidelines, corporate standards in the field of sustainable development, and specialized financial mechanisms. With respect to Russian practice, the emerging approach can be identified as pragmatic sovereignty. At the same time, the fundamental fork determining the prospects becomes the dilemma between reliance on the capacity of forest ecosystems to absorb emissions and the need for large-scale reconstruction of the production apparatus on a low-carbon basis. Conclusions. One of the main problems for Russia today lies not in the absence of declared intentions but in the noticeable divergence between the established regulatory framework and the implementation of the Green Agenda in economic practice. If there is no transition to concrete mandatory requirements, no approval of sectoral plans with clear indicators, and no provision of sustainable financing for them, then there is a high probability that the set of climate initiatives will remain predominantly public discourse and will not lead to substantial shifts in the economy. From a practical standpoint, the value of the work lies in the fact that it substantiates the need to move from general framework provisions to well-developed implementation instruments, in particular the introduction of mandatory non-financial reporting by ESG criteria and the launch of a full-fledged state registry of carbon units. It is precisely such measures that are capable of turning the Green Agenda into a driver of structural modernization.