Speech of the Chairman
of the IPA CIS Council,
Chairman of the Federation Council
of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation,
Sergey Mironov, at the Third
Nevsky International Ecological Congress
«Ecologization of nature management —
a basis for modernization of economy in balance with nature»
14 May 2010
The conduction of the International Nevsky Ecological Congress — which is now for the third time — has become a good tradition.
The Congress is attended by public and political figures from many countries of the world, scientists, businessmen, representatives of the society. We have here the representatives of the United Nations, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and our colleagues from the Commonwealth of Independent States. I would like to thank particularly the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly that is the co-organizer of the Congress together with the Federation Council.
I would like to note that in Russia, in the CIS countries and in the world in general the ideas articulated at the previous Congresses enjoy further development. That is a conclusive evidence for the high demand for the real proposals in the sphere of environment.
The analysis of implementation of decisions of the Congress that was undertaken in the Federation Council shows that our country introduces actively the proposals in the sphere of rational use of resources, energy innovations, international cooperation, environmental responsibility, and requirements for the transport.
Dear colleagues!
The topic of this Congress is directly linked with the overcoming of the consequences of the world economic crisis and with the search for new strategies of sustainable development. The world-known Russian scientist Vladimir Vernadskiy thought that with the emergence of the noosphere — the space of interaction between the society and the nature — the human activity became the key factor of changes on the planet. We should elaborate such a model of the future that would combine the sustainable development of the economy, the rational consumption, and the environmental security.
Such strategy needs new approaches to the production, trade and consumption of goods and services. This concerns also the production of goods made of safe materials, construction with use of clean technologies, and building of environmental ethics and culture.
Preservation of nature is an imperative for the whole mankind.
Russia also has many achievements in this field. Only in recent two years we have adopted a range of normative documents aimed at energy saving and enhancing of efficiency of the economy. The alterations that stimulate the reduction of the burned casing-head gas and its rational use were introduced to the legislation. The Water strategy has been adopted in order to secure a more efficient use of the hydro-resources.
We work over the legal acts in the sphere of environmental control and rate setting, handling with wastes, and severing the responsibility for pollution. There is launched and functions the programme of collecting and recycling of obsolete cars. The system of stimulus for the companies is under elaboration in order to encourage them to modernize the production, to secure its environmental safety and to introduce the best accessible technologies.
I would like to stress that in Russia despite the consequences of the crisis a range of companies invest serious amounts to the ecologization of the production in compliance the modern requirements. They remove from the service the outdated equipment, introduce the resource-saving technologies and advanced refinement systems, reduce the harmful emission.
The Russian Federation attaches the great importance to the international environmental cooperation. I would remind that it was the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by our country that let it come into force. Very recently there was settled a cooperation memorandum in the sphere of environment between the UNIDO and the Federal Service on Control in the Sphere of Nature Management of Russia.
Traditionally, the issues of ecology will be considered this year at the Sixth Baikal Economic Forum.
The environmental cooperation between regions is of great importance for us. In particular, in the framework of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe we enjoy a good interaction with Ukraine in the sphere of sustainable development of regions with mining industry.
Dear participants of the Congress!
I am confident that no new technology could be introduced in case it does not match with strict criteria of environmental security. We should have no doubts in complete safety of such products. The consequences of the incident with the oil platform near the US coast reaffirm this.
We should be careful about the results of our activity and should not try the patience of the nature. This is also shown by the tragedy at the «Raspadskaya» mine.
Many experts have no doubt that in
This direction is also definitely urgent for Russia while considering its territory and distant location of many regions from the centralized energy supply. Implementation of projects in the sphere of alternative energy requires a solid normative basis and support measures. We need more or less simple, cheap and safe technological decisions applicable for the mass use.
Dear colleagues!
At the Second Nevsky Ecological Congress I submitted a set of proposals on creation of international mechanisms in the sphere of the safe development. I suppose that many ideas can be successfully implemented also in the CIS countries.
First. The idea of establishing of the international fund of accumulation and introduction of ecologically safe technologies has got support in the world and is already under implementation.
We also need such a fund that would work both on the level of the Russian Federation and on the level of the CIS states. Another scale of work is required in this direction. It concerns accumulation and storing of information, issues of elaboration, licensing, transfer and implementation of technologies. The fund should be addressed directly by all who are interested in the spread of technologies — from scientists and inventors to entrepreneurs and common citizens. The creation of such a fund can become a concrete practical step in the framework of the Year of Science and Innovations declared in the CIS.
Second. I consider it necessary to adopt a basic law on innovations in order to enhance the environmental efficiency of the economy. As well as to prepare a «legislative framework» that would be capable to provide the innovative development of Russia. We need projects that would let us reach the growth on an absolutely new basis. For example, by developing «green innovations».
Third. The elaboration and introduction of contemporary environmental standards. Many countries and organizations already transit from separate environmental measures to complex systems of ecological management and audit. The parliaments and in particular the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly can assist in broad promotion of such standards. The parliaments should become an example of organizations that apply in their work clean technologies and provide efficient economy of resources.
Fourth. The technical regulations in various industries are the real instruments of modernization. They close the access of dangerous production to the market and reduce harmful influence on the nature.
I suppose that the work over introduction of technical regulations shall be thoroughly revised and intensified. We need to enhance the level of environmental requirements. Only then the production will have to improve its performance.
Fifth. Among the key reasons of environmental problems there are still the departmental and production disconnection as well as the specifically interpreted expediency. In such system it is cheaper to pay fines than to reconstruct the «polluting» production.
The experience shows that the most successful systems are those that build complete technological chains of administration, production, control and consumption of products. Here, the key role should be played by the state and the civil society institutions as the main actors of environment protection.
Sixth. The «green policy» will become successful if it is accompanied by the broad public support. Very different measures will suit here — from the environmental control and expertise and to the exchange of the advanced experience and training of specialists.
Dear friends!
I hope that our Congress will articulate the concrete proposals for the balanced solution of economic and ecological tasks. At the same time we should be oriented not only by the current issues but by the future. Involuntary one can remember the words of the great Russian writer Anton Chekhov: «If you work for the present, your work will be worthless; one should work while thinking... about the future».
I wish all the participants of the Congress an interesting and efficient work.
Thank you for the attention.
Thanks to the group of interpreters.
