Experts discussed the basic environmental problems in regions

The annual Congress of the Russian Ecological Movement was held on December 12^th. At the plenary session environmentalists and social activists from 45 regions of the Russian Federation discussed, among other things, the imperfection of environmental legislation and ways of adjusting environmental disputes between business and society.

The Congress united delegates from 45 regions of Russia. The date of its holding is the Constitution Day and it was not chosen by chance, as the basic law of the state enshrines the right of citizens to a favorable environment.

“Our main task is to make the planet cleaner,” Rashid Nurgaliyev, Chairman of the Russian Ecological Movement said at the Congress opening, “but it is impossible without opinion of experts and entire community. Our Congress should set the direction in which we will move on and help to establish a constructive dialogue between different departments and public figures.”

The Russian Ecological Movement has identified for itself four main areas of its activity - water, air, soil and waste processing. At the plenary session experts discussed the role of the community and industrial enterprises in the implementation of programs aimed at improving the environment condition.

Alina Rybina, member of the Expert Council of the Russian Ecological Movement the area of social corporate responsibility of industrial enterprises, Deputy General Director for Corporate Communications of the AO GC Titan, noted the special significance of the expert discussions: “By organizing this event we pursued the objective to find ways for resolving basic contradictions between business, public and government authorities. If we find common ground, we will be able to work out definite steps and start to implement them. The main thing is to start a constructive dialogue faster.”

Alexander Vlasov, Congress expert, head of the project office of the federal project “Clean Air” of Rosprirodnadzor, spoke about the new practice of involving public environmental inspectors by the regulatory body to assess the state of the environment in the regions. These specialists are certified by Rosprirodnadzor and obtain appropriate certificates. “Any inspector should be endowed with additional rights,” explained Alexander Vlasov. “Rosprirodnadzor approached the Ministry of Natural Resources with the initiative to amend legislative acts so that the public inspector would be able to take photos and videos of offenses and give comments.”

In reply, Aleksandr Danilov, Executive Director of the Non-Governmental Center for Collective Use of St. Petersburg Mining University, stressed the necessity of special training of inspectors: “This is an example of consolidation of the state, social activists and scientific community. On the one hand, there is Rosprirodnadzor, which issues certificates, on the other hand there is an ordinary person, on the third part there are scientists who can give real solutions and proposals.”

As a developed idea of improving environmental regulation, Sergey Khoroshayev, member of the Expert Council of the Russian Ecological Movement, presented an environmental standard - non-state legal mechanism for self-regulation of entities, which should include representatives of business, government and public opinion leaders. “There are contradictions between the national project “Ecology” and Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation regulating this area, heads of the regions do not understand what they need to concentrate on, there are no clear instructions for business,” pointed out Sergey Khoroshayev. “Ecostandard neutralizes these contradictions. The principle of its work is public acceptance, scientific validity and involvement of expert community.”

It should be noted that the Group of companies Titan became one of the first companies to support the Ecostandard introduction. The company has repeatedly demonstrated its readiness to participate in projects aimed at reducing the burden on the environment.

The outcome of the Congress will be represented by a general resolution that will be sent to the regional authorities in order to formulate environmental policy on the ground.

Photo: https://red.help

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