Economics for Nature Protection and Resource Conservation from the Russian Empire to the USSR: Achievements, Failures and Conflicts

Considering the attention paid to nature protection throughout the history of economics, it would be worthwhile to evaluate the scientific thought in the Russian Empire, the USSR and Russia concerning an environmentally oriented economy. The review presents an analysis of research works on this topic — from Vernadsky’s concept of the biosphere and environmentally oriented management in the USSR to the modern scientists’ ideas. In the USSR, economics of nature conservation studied the strongest interconnections between society and the ecological environment for further depleting and preventing pollution. The study identifies the leading researchers and outlines the main concepts of how the economy can reflect environmental protection and support sustainability.