Every year, up to 12 million tons of plastic waste enters the ocean, which decomposes only to microparticles – their entry into the body of dolphins, seals, albatrosses leads to mass death of animals. Russia proposes to fight this by switching to recyclable plastic – our country is one of the main initiators of the international treaty to combat pollution in the world and an opponent of the West’s far from balanced position on this issue.
What should become the main tool against the plastic suffocation of the planet, when programs against desertification of lands and for the improvement of rivers are launched in Russia, was discussed on the last day of the Nevsky International Environmental Congress in St. Petersburg – its plenary session was held by the speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko and Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Victoria Abramchenko.
One garbage truck of plastic enters the ocean per minute
Nevsky Congress confirmed the status of one of the most popular environmental sites. Parliamentarians and federal leaders, scientists and specialists, representatives of large public organizations and businesses – in total, NMEK-2023 brought together about 1,500 delegates only in person. Representatives of the CIS countries, China, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Thailand, Zimbabwe, Iran, Iraq, Brazil, Serbia – about 50 states in total – performed at the Tauride Palace. And at the plenary session of the Congress on May 26, a greeting was announced to the participants from the President of Russia Vladimir Putin.
Congress always aims to discuss with specific proposals based on their results, and not “environmental populism”, which is completely unacceptable now, when the planet is teetering on the brink of a global natural disaster. This was stated by Valentina Matvienko, who stated that today a number of Western countries are using the eco-movement for political purposes, violating their earlier international obligations. “Russia opposes double standards, and we are open to cooperation with everyone who is ready for this,” the speaker emphasized.
One of the key problems of mankind is the growing shortage of water. According to experts, its world reserves do not exceed three percent of the total amount of water resources, which does not cover the household needs of people. According to Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko, water pollution is a huge problem not only with industrial sewage, but also with consumer waste. Up to 12 million tons of plastic waste end up in the ocean every year, she says, the equivalent of one garbage truck filling up every minute. It is plastic that makes up 80 percent of all floating garbage. The most tragic thing is that it does not decompose, but breaks down into microparticles, which, when they enter the body of animals, cause mass deaths of dolphins, seals, albatrosses and other living creatures.
Today, Russia is one of the main initiators of the preparation of an international treaty to combat plastic pollution, including in the aquatic environment – the second stage of its discussion at the WTO and UN platforms, as Abramchenko said, will take place on May 29. “We take a balanced position – it is impossible to refuse plastic in medicine, industrial safety or housing and communal services. Therefore, we do not support the position of Western countries on limiting the extraction of primary raw materials, but we believe that it is necessary to fight against non-recyclable and difficult-to-recycle waste here, ”said the Deputy Prime Minister from the rostrum of NMEK-2023.
Victoria Abramchenko
Waiting for a response from the UN
And as the main tool in the development of the circular economy, legislative restrictions should become, which include, among other things, extended producer responsibility. In particular, parliamentarians and the Government of Russia are currently working on amendments to ban the use of disposable tableware, bags, bags and bags within the central ecological zone of Baikal. Also, the head of state has already supported the introduction of environmental fines in the Russian Federation, calculated from the turnover of companies.
However, the state not only punishes, but also creates. Abramchenko said that following the results of last year alone, 22,000 measures were implemented in Russia to clean up water bodies from debris, hundreds of kilometers of reclamation canals and fish passages were restored, thousands of hectares of water surface were cleaned, 93 treatment facilities were built and reconstructed on the most important water artery – the Volga River . In addition, the entire basin of the “mother of Russian rivers” will be included in a single federal project for the environmental improvement of the water arteries of our country – in addition to the Volga, in 2025 the state will also start cleaning up the Don, Amur, Urals, Irtysh, and Terek. Do not forget about small rivers.
No less acute than the problems with water resources are the issues of land desertification – at the congress, expert data were presented, according to which today about three billion hectares of land around the world are subject to desertification! It is good that Russia has a unique experience in how to resist drying up and toxic soil pollution – our country is ready to share it not only with other states, but also actively apply it at home. According to Victoria Abramchenko, by the end of 2024, a state program will be created for 14 regions prone to desertification.
One of the main appeals of all participants of the St. Petersburg congress is the time to provide equal access to “green” technologies for every state. It is not for nothing that the main topic of NMEK-2023 exacerbates the problem of environmental greed of some international “players” – “Ecology: a right, not a privilege”. “On all issues of the climate and environmental agenda, we need to act together, on the principles of equality and mutual respect. We continue to be ready to share our experience, as well as to implement the best foreign solutions for environmental protection,” said Valentina Matvienko.
She said that the key recommendations and proposals of NMEK-2023 will be sent to the UN – the congress participants expect that they will be studied and adopted. There is nowhere to retreat – according to scientists, in order to ensure the current way of life of mankind and our continuing growing needs for natural resources, by 2050 the resources of three planets such as the Earth will be required.
Valentina Matvienko
Recall that the X Nevsky International Ecological Congress in St. Petersburg was organized by the Federation Council, the Government of Russia, the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS. The operator of the congress events, which, in addition to two dozen panel discussions and round tables, included unique exhibitions, a fair on Manezhnaya Square, a rally of the “ecolyte” schoolchildren movement, holding a Youth Day with the participation of two thousand representatives of organizations (implemented by the Rosmolodezh project and the state corporation “ Rosatom”), by the Roscongress Foundation.
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