The study raises an urgent and important problem of the climate change. The research area is the Rostov region of the Russian Federation. The paper considers the features of the change of the climatic conditions of the region and assesses the consequences. The dynamics of the average monthly temperature in January and July in Rostov-on-Don, as well as its average annual precipitation from 1970 to 2019, is analyzed. The research is based on the weather chronicle of the Rostov region. Over the past 60 years, there had been a steady increase in the average monthly temperatures. The work also considers the issue of desertification processes in the study area, its impact on human life activity.

The paper aims to discuss the prospects of using the project approach in the development of small businesses in 2020-2021. To meet that goal, the authors have applied a descriptive method, with regard to Articles of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Small business is one of the economy drivers, providing the necessary jobs and opportunities for self-employment, enterprises related to small business are quite mobile and flexible. Project management allows for creating an adequate plan of company development under conditions of limited resources and time. Based on the results of the research, it can be concluded that the project approach is an effective tool used to solve strategic problems in the face of constantly changing circumstances by eliminating some of the imperfections inherent in the market and to introduce an agile workflow.