Vladimir Putin chaired State Council meeting
on environmental development of the Russian Federation
in the interests of future generations at the Kremlin.
December 27, 2016
15:10
The Kremlin, Moscow
6 of 17
State Council meeting on Russia’ environmental
development for future generations.
President
of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, good afternoon,
Our agenda today
includes the challenge of Russia’s gradual transition
to a sustainable development model, not simply sustainable
development, but environmentally sustainable development. I want
to stress that we are discussing economic development, but with
a focus on environmental issues.
This issue is
crucial, above all, to improving the efficiency
of the national economy, on the one hand,
and at the same time to improving the quality
of life for our people, and achieving the potential
of our regions, on the other.
I will remind
you that 2017 has been declared the Year of the Environment,
and environmental protection has been included in the recently
approved National Science and Technology Development Strategy as a priority.
It is clear that this
policy is for the long term – for the next 20, 30
years or more. But, unless we start moving, we will go in circles
forever complaining that we do not have enough money to address
the current issues, and we will never get around to strategic
issues. We cannot delay this any longer.
I also want
to emphasize that Russia’s huge, no exaggeration, huge resource potential,
is of truly planetary significance. Our country has huge reserves
of fresh water and forests, and great biodiversity; it serves
as an ecological donor for the world, providing it with
nearly 10 percent of its biosphere sustainability.
Back
in the early 20th century, Vladimir Vernadsky warned
that the time would come when people would have to assume
responsibility for human, as well as environmental development.
There is no doubt that this time has come. Humanity already owes
an enormous debt to the environment and continues
to test its limits, which is affecting people. Although I would
rather not speak about it, I feel compelled to say that outdoor
and indoor air pollution claims the lives of 7 to 8 million
people every year. These are ominous and alarming figures. This has
a direct bearing on our country. In a number of areas,
the environmental stress has reached a critical point. This costs our
economy up to 6 percent of GDP every year, or up to 15
percent if we factor in the health costs.
I would like
to highlight some of the most urgent environmental issues that
need to be addressed as a matter of priority. Achieving
drastic reductions in emissions of hazardous substances into
the air, water and soil is a major issue. This can be done
by reequipping industry and implementing the best available
technology. A number of big corporations have already launched
environment protection programmes. However, we are also aware
of the fact that not all companies pay due regard to these
issues.
Of course,
as I said in the beginning, this requires investment, but
we have to understand that eco-friendly technology is not only
a priority but also brings about tangible economic benefits. I expect
the business community to heed my words: the implementation
of this technology should not be delayed. We can no long afford
to put these issues on the back burner. It was decided
to roll back some initiatives, as I will explain later, but
there will be no further adjustments. Let me add that implementing
the best available technology can serve Russian companies
and the economy in general as a powerful incentive
for boosting performance and competitiveness.
I would like
to call on the ministries and agencies in charge
of issuing norms and regulations regarding such technology: you need
to ensure that they are being issued in a timely manner
and taking into account that companies need a reasonable timeframe
for implementing them, which means that norms and regulations should
be issued well in advance. Let me reiterate that it is impossible
to keep putting this issue on the back burner.
The situation
with hazardous emissions remains critical. Half of the city
population breathes highly polluted air. Vehicles, both personal
and public, contribute 50 to 90 percent. A significant part
of open water is classified as polluted or extremely polluted.
Seven percent of residents have no access to quality drinking water.
Soil condition is worsening in nearly all regions. If we continue
to limit the solution to half-measures and prioritise other
objectives, the emissions and greenhouse gases will reach
a critical level by 2050. We understand very well what this means.
This means that we will leave the future generations an environment
unfit for living. Therefore, we must reduce pollution and emissions
by at least 50 percent.
Environmental
education and awareness is an important area for improvement. So
far, the term “environmental education” has not been fixed by law.
Environmental pollution data is scarce and disappears in various
agencies while summary estimates of air pollution are calculated
for major cities of only 12 Russian regions. These obstacles make
the nationwide environmental monitoring difficult, to say nothing
about long-term forecasts. I would like to hear today what you think
should be done to change the situation.
Another important
task is treatment of industrial and consumer waste, which now totals
over 30 billion tonnes. Rubbish is disposed without any order
and landfills take up almost 48,000 hectares. As you know, strict
rules for the disposal and treatment of household waste
have been introduced by law; however, the effective date has been
postponed. I would like to hear about drafting of necessary
documents and what has been done for the public to learn
more about this innovation.
I would like
the speakers to pay special attention to processing high-risk
waste.
Furthermore,
and this is always mentioned in various statements on this
subject and in this year’s Address [to the Federal
Assembly] too, individuals and public organisations should be actively
involved in social projects, including the resolution
of environmental issues. As I have said, officials should not
hide from people in their offices. Obviously, the public wants
and has the right to take part in environmental,
educational and other specific actions aimed at improving
the quality of their lives and upgrading their courtyards, parks
and squares. I am simply convinced that confidence in public
initiatives, as well as dialogue and partnership with public
organisations are very important for developing a high-level
environmental culture in the country.
I would like
to ask Mr Ivanov, chairman of the Organising Committee
for the Year of the Environment in Russia,
to take responsibility for environmental projects with
the participation of volunteers, including those from
the Russian Geographical Society (RGS) and other associations.
Colleagues, I have
mentioned only some of the many questions that require our attention.
I believe they will be discussed in other reports and speeches.
I am referring to such issues as energy saving,
and the preservation of forests, water, unique natural sites
and rare flora and fauna species. It is also necessary to carry
out energy saving and ecological recovery programmes at national
sites like the Volga River, Lake Baikal,
and Lake Teletskoye in Altai.
I would like
to ask the speakers to focus on measures and proposals
to improve the situation, which we can and must implement
in the near future.
Mr Dubrovsky, please.
Chelyabinsk Region
Governor Boris Dubrovsky: Mr President, colleagues,
The central
issue of the State Council meeting, Russia’s environmental development
in the interests of future generations, has stirred great
interest among scientists and experts, as well as a wide
range of other professionals. In preparation
for the report, we analysed the impact of global
environmental issues on Russia’s development and listed some domestic
environmental challenges. The report justifies transition
to eco-friendly sustainable development as a national strategic
priority.
The wellbeing
of the present and future generations can only be ensured
by efficient use of natural resources. The idea itself is not
new, as Mr President noted in his speech, and originates from
Russia. It was our great fellow countryman, scientist Vladimir Vernadsky, who
introduced the term “sustainable development” almost one hundred years
ago. The concept is clear and simple: humanity cannot exist
in opposition to nature since it is an integral part
of nature. We also have to honestly admit that neither today nor
in the foreseeable future we will be able to do without natural
resources. But we must clearly understand the ways to measure our
natural capital. The entire world is looking for a new scale
for these measurements. I believe Russia must get ahead
of the rest of the world in this task.
Since Adam Smith,
natural resources have been assessed in terms of their degree
of involvement in economy. Even aware of environmental limits
of growth, we continue to rate development levels through standard
indicators. One of these key indicators is GDP growth, which basically
only shows the rate at which natural capital is converted into
physical capital, without consideration for the social
and environmental impact. This impact can be negative. I think it
would be appropriate to compare this to double-entry bookkeeping,
which has been in use since the 15th century. We can
apply it to our topic in the following way: humankind has
natural capital, or liabilities, and human capital, or assets.
Our goal is to turn liabilities into assets with minimal losses, that is,
to use natural resources to increase human capital.
In our report,
we have substantiated the need to add other quantitative indicators
beside gross domestic product to reflect sustainable development. We will
need to form a system of national accounts to evaluate the state
of the environment and the cost of environmental
benefits. This should be taken into account in strategic planning
documents and should allow us to really manage the processes. We
believe this planning system will enhance Russia's role in addressing global
environmental issues, as you, Mr President, said in your speech.
Colleagues, while
working on the report, we found it useful to rise
to the academic level, because large things are best seen from
a distance. This has helped us to focus systematically
on specific issues that are of concern to most people today,
starting with the most relevant ones: the quality of air
and drinking water, household waste disposal, mitigation
of environmental damage, and preservation of the existing
natural landscapes.
Article 42
of the Russian Constitution enshrines the right
to a healthy environment, reliable information about its condition,
and compensation for the damage done to one’s health
or property by environmental violations.
As we see it,
there are three main components, and each requires hard work.
The authors of the report have proposed a package
of solutions for attaining this complex goal in the medium
and long term. It includes amendments to existing legislation
regulating natural resources and environmental protection;
a multi-level system of incentives; building clean industry –
also through using special marketing tools; a set of measures
for the development of renewable energy sources; new
requirements for environmental education; and effective mechanisms
for interacting with civil society. The proposals include large-scale
and largely interrelated efforts, which cannot fit
in the so-called simple solutions.
The algorithm
of implementing the suggested measures has been presented
in detail in the report. I will briefly touch
on the key issues.
First is
the need to control air quality. No tangible reduction in air
pollution in industrial cities has been recorded since 2000. This
indicates that we have exhausted the potential of the current
model of controlling ambient air and must look for other
approaches.
Such tools exist
and here they are. It has been suggested that we need to estimate
the combined influence of all pollutants in a city, conduct
a summary assessment of maximum acceptable emissions and, based on this,
determine the allowable contribution of each pollutant
in the standard quality of air in a given residential
area. Companies will proceed from this contribution or quota
in drafting specific programmes and making technical solutions.
The goal is to reduce the rates of air pollution
in the cities.
It is also necessary
to determine traffic quotas at the same time. Municipal
and regional authorities will be responsible for tracking this. They
need to determine the tools to influence this, including, first
of all, ways to develop public transport, transition
to environmentally safe vehicles, and modern city-planning solutions
for regulating traffic.
It is easy
to determine the efficiency of such air control methods
by measuring the reduction in the concentration
of harmful substances in the air in residential
neighbourhoods. The existing Roshydromet (Federal Service
for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring)
and Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Service for Surveillance
on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing) monitoring systems
will provide the necessary data for managerial decisions.
The extent of meeting the public demand for fresh air will
be the main indicator of the efficiency of these joint
efforts and hence, may be considered a sign of steady
development.
The report
suggests using all these tools. I will list them again: combined pollution
assessment, pollutant concentration quotas, and monitoring of air
in residential neighbourhoods as the foundation
for managerial decisions on legislative and regulatory acts.
This will allow us to face the authorities and industrial
enterprises with very practical objectives. I suggest choosing pilot
regions for testing these measures and will say outright that
the Chelyabinsk Region is ready to pioneer this. We hope this will
give new impetus to our development.
In our
experience, we often come across growing public and environmental risks
as part of major investment projects. We believe a complex
environmental impact estimate for such projects at the initial
stage of their implementation would allow us to balance business
and public interests. Clear and transparent mechanisms of state
environmental review should make the process easier.
The next problem
is the shrinking land that is supposed to provide
for the needs of the current and future generations. Already
a third of the planet’s fertile soil has been lost.
In Russia its share is 7 percent. But we all realise that this is not
an excuse for remaining idle. The process of soil loss is
accelerating, and an increasing amount of land is being used
for non-cultivating purposes, for manufacturing but also industrial
waste and dumping.
As you said, Mr
President, the uncontrolled use of (1st and 2nd class)
hazardous waste, which can be tantamount to chemical weapons, is
particularly alarming. Its disposal should be regulated by special human
safety requirements and for preventing possible terrorist threats. We
believe high-tech transport control mechanisms and the best recycling
technologies should be introduced in this area as a priority.
I hope Mr Donskoy will highlight this subject in more detail.
Let me touch upon
household waste briefly, as it cannot be put off any longer.
The regions are prepared for the new waste disposal system
to various degrees.
The regions are
facing this problem to different extents. The adopted decision
to let the regional authorities decide on when to introduce
the new system within a certain transition period meets
the interests of the green economy and is fairly realistic.
People must be prepared to use this system, and it is up to the local
authorities to get them ready.
Another extremely
important issue, in our opinion, is environmental education. It is
important to build a firm attitude to nature in every
Russian citizen so that the public understands how their everyday behaviour
can affect the environment. Insufficient environmental literacy, inability
to give an objective assessment to relevant information
facilitates environmental scepticism and, therefore, denial of any
progress. We have seen that. When this happens, many of our fellow
citizens lose the ability to judge environmentally significant data
from various sources.
Environment is, above
all, knowledge. We believe that our education system must provide this
knowledge as a fundamental rather than secondary subject. Environmentally
friendly behaviour must be instilled by all education programmes, starting
from kindergarten. Only then will it be common to realise one’s personal
responsibility for the future where humankind, which has become
a geological force, can continue to progress with confidence.
Colleagues,
in my speech I briefly and sometimes emotionally outlined
the results of the six months of work. I hope that
my team managed to articulate the principles that will help us
ensure the sustainable development of Russia
for the benefit of present and future generations.
In this regard, I cannot help but quote Vladimir Vernadsky who,
almost a hundred years ago when people only started paying the price
for industrialisation, wrote: “A tremendous future is unfolding
for humanity if people can understand that and do not use their
intelligence and labour for self-eradication.”
I sincerely hope
that we will enter the Year of the Environment with
a common understanding of the tasks and approaches
to them in order to accomplish our goals together.
In conclusion,
I would like to thank all the working group members
for their contribution here. And Happy New Year! I wish you good
health, prosperity and peace!
Thank you very much.
Vladimir Putin: Thank
you.
Mr Donskoy will
continue. Please go ahead.
Minister
of Natural Resources and Environment Minister Sergei Donskoy: Mr
President, colleagues,
I would like
to begin with the results of a recent nationwide poll
conducted by VCIOM Public Opinion Research Centre, in which almost 45
percent of respondents believe that waste is a major threat
to the environment, so I'll start with that.
Two years ago,
a law aimed at resolving this issue was passed. It provides several
key mechanisms. The first is requiring each region to create
a transparent system for solid municipal waste management.
To this end, the regions need to approve territorial waste
treatment arrangements. This document provides a method
for the objective assessment of the accumulated amounts
of waste and waste traffic management. Under the law,
the regional authorities have to select a regional operator
on a competitive basis.
We realise that
the regions are in varying degrees of readiness, and their
transition to a new system is only possible with the full
support of the federal government. As an example,
I will cite the preparatory process for regional territorial
plans. These documents have been agreed upon with Rosprirodnadzor [Federal
Service for Supervision of Natural Resources] in 82 regions,
and 69 have approved them. These results are due to the fact
that Rosprirodnadzor has been working with each region individually literally
on a daily basis.
The next step
includes choosing regional operators and setting rates. The regions
should do this with the targeted support and control of our
colleagues from the relevant federal agencies and ministries.
It was decided
to move to a new regulatory system in phases, but,
of course, we are not putting this issue on the back burner.
First, 12 regions have confirmed their willingness to work under
a new system of regulations beginning in 2017, and they
need our support. The second key mechanism of the adopted law
has become operational in full. Today, manufacturers and importers
must dispose of the items that have lost their consumer properties
on their own, or pay an environmental fee
to the state. In 2017, we plan to collect over 6 billion
rubles in environmental fees, and these funds will be used
as subsidies for the pilot regions.
We also plan
to gradually enlarge the categories of goods subject
to recycling (at present there are only eight) and set higher
recycling standards. This will generate considerable amounts of money: 300
billion rubles. These funds will be used to subsidise household solid
waste disposal programmes at the regional level.
Obviously, these
measures will be successful only if the required waste processing
facilities are created. The first step in this direction will be
the launch next year of five pilot recycling plant construction
projects. In order to make waste recycling environmentally friendly,
it is necessary to ensure waste separation and sorting, and we
believe that this is an area that small and medium-sized businesses
should move into.
Unfortunately,
at present, in addition to reforming the waste disposal management
system, we have to deal with the backlog of problems
in this area. To bar illegal waste disposal practices, we have
streamlined the licensing system down the entire waste circulation
chain. A total of 12,000 licences have been issued and licence oversight
is ensured. There are also plans to introduce additional automated waste
transport control systems regardless of hazard categories, including
the use of the GLONASS system. Together with NGOs, in 2017,
we will put into operation a public information system to identify
and monitor the elimination of dumpsites – a kind
of public control system.
Now regarding
accumulated industrial waste. Over the past four years, we have removed 4
million tonnes of waste in Russia’s Arctic zone, Siberia, Far East, Caucasus
and Volga region, as well as the Baikal nature reserve.
However, we understand that considering its scale, the problem requires
a systemic solution. We have adopted a corresponding law that
provides for the introduction of a new system:
the identification of such sites and their categorisation
in terms of environmental risk. As a result, next year we
will expand the scope of operations, with another 25 polluted
territories in 20 regions slated for clean-up.
The aggregate
volume of budgetary funding for these projects will exceed 7 billion
rubles through 2019. However, budgetary funds alone are not enough. It is
necessary to incentivise private investors to undertake such
projects. This may include exemptions in providing tracts of land
cleared of dumpsites and landfills, as well
as the implementation of such projects in lieu
of reimbursing the damage caused to the environment.
We believe that
the implementation of all of the aforementioned measures
will make it possible to significantly improve recycling standards.
At present, the level of solid household waste recycling is 8
percent. By 2025, it will amount to 40 percent. Naturally, this will
also prevent illegal dumps from popping up.
I am now moving
to the second area of the environmental protection reform,
namely technological regulation through the law on the best
available technology. This is a comprehensive law aimed at improving
environmental oversight and control, ecological assessment
and ecological norm setting and encouraging environmental activities.
Each of those elements is to be implemented stage by stage over
a period from 2015 to 2025 with the planning horizon stretching
as far as 2035.
For the implementation
of the first, the most crucial stage, it is necessary
to single out 300 enterprises in the first environmental risk
category, which account for up to 60 percent of the negative
impact on environmental components. Those enterprises will have three
years, beginning in 2018, to carry out modernisation programmes.
The remaining facilities in the first environmental risk
category are to switch to the new system by 2025.
For that, a state database of enterprises is being created.
Those of them that pose the highest risk in terms
of pollution are being singled out and equipped with automated
control. A system of ecological assessment
for the construction and reconstruction of such facilities
is also being introduced. As a result, data on overall
emissions, waste dumping and waste disposal volumes will be available
to the general public.
In 2017,
to ensure a transition to the best available technology,
all necessary reference books for various economic branches will be completed.
By now, half of such reference books have been approved. There are 24
reference books.
To make those
measures more efficient and simpler to implement, we consider it
necessary to envisage equipping enterprises stage by stage with
automated emission control devices and issue comprehensive ecological
permissions for new enterprises prior to their construction.
And we suggest moving the state environmental review
of investment projects to the stage at which locations
for future industrial enterprises are chosen.
At the same
time, we are aware of the fact that the implementation
of this large-scale task will require considerable investments –
around 1.5 percent of the GDP according to preliminary
estimates. Therefore, the law envisages various privileges
and economic incentives. In addition, the Russian Foundation
for Technological Development will allocate funds from the federal
budget to support the development of enterprises introducing
the best available technology. For enterprises that fail to introduce
the best available technology, the fee for emissions
and waste dumping exceeding the required norms will be increased
fourfold.
The efficiency
of this mechanism has been proven within the framework
of the experience introduced in 2013 of regulating responsibility
for burning petroleum gas at flare facilities. The use
of this mechanism has made it possible to raise petroleum gas
recycling from 77 percent in 2012 to 90 percent this year. Total
investments exceed 200 billion rubles.
I would like
to point out that, despite the fact that the core mechanisms
for implementing the best practices will become effective only
in 2019, many large enterprises are already involved in this work.
In particular, together with Rosprirodnadzor, we signed 55 agreements with
the companies, and the expected volume of environmental
investments will exceed 130 billion rubles.
In addition,
for the purposes of sewage water treatment, the Ministry
provides support for implementing 59 investment projects to build
and upgrade sewage treatment plants, with a total private investment
of over 125 billion rubles. Once completed, the volume
of polluted wastewater discharged into water bodies will decrease
by almost 2 cubic kilometres per year.
Over the long
term, the transition to the best practices will ensure not only
an increase in the quality of life, but will also stimulate
the machine-building industry to manufacture the latest
equipment, and set the vector for import replacement and localisation
of manufacturing facilities, which will ultimately improve
the competitiveness of the Russian economy.
Now, with regard
to the conservation of nature sites. The system
of protected areas and biodiversity conservation are the most
effective means of wildlife conservation for future generations. So,
our primary goal here is to expand the area of protected nature
sites, taking into account the level of social and economic
development of the regions where they are located. Over the past
four years, we have increased the area of protected areas by 14 percent to over 62 million hectares. We
will not stop at that, and plan to create 10 more protected
sites next year.
In today's
world, specially protected nature sites are actively becoming incorporated into
ecotourism. Potentially, our parks and reserves can handle about 20
million visitors a year, but the current infrastructure limits this
number to 2 million. The state funds are not enough to create
the necessary infrastructure, so next year we propose introducing a mechanism
to attract private funds to create such infrastructure, including
through concession agreements. These mechanisms will allow us to start
implementing pilot projects to promote ecotourism in the Baikal
nature area, the Altai Mountains and the Caucasus in 2018,
and to triple the number of tourists to our national
parks by 2025.
Targeted programmes
are being implemented with regard to all endangered species, such
as the Amur tiger, the Persian and Far Eastern leopard,
polar bears, bison, and Przewalski's horse, in order to stabilise
and increase their population. We plan to launch more rare animal
programmes, in particular, for the argali, snow leopard
and saiga antelope. Next year, we will, of course, continue
to work towards expanding the list of such programmes, including
those with the participation of businesses.
In closing,
I would like to provide one more result from the VCIOM poll,
which I began with. Responding to a question about
the factors positively influencing the environment, our citizens put
state environmental supervision in the first place, followed
by punishing violators of environmental legislation. Since
the majority of regional leaders are present here today, I want
to ask you, especially considering our plans for the Year
of the Environment, to be responsive to the public
request and proceed from the inevitability of punishment
for violations of environmental law. I would ask you
to consider our plans for the Year of the Environment
specifically in this manner.
Thank you.
<…>
Vladimir Putin: In closing,
I would like to say the following.
The subject that
we are discussing today is not simply politically expedient
and fashionable. It is truly extremely important, both for people’s
health and the nation’s economic development.
Yes, investing
in modern equipment that ensures high environmental standards always means
a lot of spending at the initial stage, but you know well
that the introduction of environmentally clean modern equipment
should eventually enhance labour productivity, because this is modern high-tech
equipment, and this represents the main trends
in the development of our industry and economy.
In this context
I would like to note the responsibility of the state
and the business community. It would be wrong if the decisions
required for moving down the road we are discussing today depended
on people who drink clean water and live in a good
environment, while large teams of workers and everything around them
exists and moves around in terrible ecological conditions. This is
absolutely inadmissible. I would like to draw the attention
of representatives of the business community, as well
as regional and federal authorities to this fact.
Needless to say,
we should act with extreme caution so as not to destroy
the economy, not to act like an elephant in a china shop,
not to demand the impossible. All decisions must be thoroughly
considered and adopted in a timely matter. We must move along
this road not in fits and starts, but steadily. If we do not do this,
we will get what I mentioned at the beginning
of my opening remarks: by the 2050 we will have
to deal with consequences that will be hard or impossible
in some places to reverse.
I would like
to motivate you and all of us to take part in this
joint work that is extremely important for our country. Thank you very
much for attending today’s meeting. I am grateful
for the efforts of the working group to prepare it.
Thank you very much.
See also
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