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Education for Sustainable Development: Russian-Swedish Project

RUSSIAN SUSTAINABILITY NewsLETTER
Special Issue. September 2012
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This issue includes...
Editorial. Interpreting the results of the Rio +20 Arctic clean-up program in action New environmental standard Environmental news from the pre-Olympic Sochi On the way to the Khibiny national park New Global Environment Facility program in Russia Conference of parliamentarians of the Arctic Region Record small ice area in the Arctic Russian-American seminar on protected areas Revival of the RGO Environmental Commission Congress of the All-Russian Society for Nature Conservation Social forum on sustainable development

Editorial. Interpreting the results of the "Rio +20"
In Russia, as in other countries around the world, people continue to discuss the results of the Rio+20. An event dedicated to this was the Social Forum on Sustainable Development, held in Moscow in September in the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. The quarterly newsletter Towards Sustainable Development of Russia has devoted a special issue to the results of this conference. The topic Rio +20 is present in various forms in many public events, including those this publication is telling about. It has been talked about in university classrooms since the beginning of the new academic year. However, this discussion is clearly not of national interest. For the Russian media Rio +20 has not become an event. Just as in the case of the recent forum Stockholm +40, as well as International Conference on Education in the environment for sustainable development "Tbilisi+35", which took place in early S eptember in the capital of Georgia. One gets the impression that Russian society is indifferent to such events, that it is hardly aware of them and does not want to know. In part, this situation is due to lack of confidence in the benefits and effectivene ss of such measures. Indeed, there are many statements in the Western press on the actual failure of the Rio +20 and disappointment with its results. The summit, which was the biggest event in the history of the UN, involved more than 45,000 people, includ ing 12,000 delegates from 188 countries, nearly 10 thousand representatives of public organizations and 4,000 journalists. And this was all for the final declaration of the summit of 283 sections on 49 pages? This text is known among the countries themselves as the "least common multiple" of too different positions, and is a subtle compromise, any attempt to violate which would lead to the collapse of the entire conference. However, even modest results are better than nothing. Furthermore, a lot of truly i mportant events took place behind the doors of the negotiation rooms at Rio +20. According to UN data, the total amount claimed for funding projects of sustainable agriculture, energy and transport, reducing risks of natural disasters, forest policy and ot her areas exceeded 510 billion dollars. In total, governments, business, civil society and universities provided more than 690 new goals and projects in the field of sustainable development and "green" economy. Fortunately, there are a considerable number of people in Russia, who understand the importance of such events for their country. This is, in particular, evidenced by the materials of the present issue. Yuri Mazurov, Moscow State University jmazurov@yandex.ru

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Arctic clean-up program in action
Within the program for clean-up in the Arctic, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation Sergey Donskoy has made an inspection trip to the archipelago of Franz Josef Land, which has the status of federal reserve and is managed by the national park Russian Arctic. In the trip participated the first vice-president of the Russian Geographical Society, Special Representative of the President of Russia on international cooperation in the Arctic and Antarctic, Artur Chilingarov. The program start was announced by Vladimir Putin at the First International Arctic Forum "The Arctic Territory of Dialogue" in 2010. The trip participants visited places being cleared of former oil stores, as well as construction and household waste on the island of Alexandra Land, where major work on the clean-up of the accumulated contamination of past years is being carried out this year and where a barrel recycling plant is located. At present, the implementation of the program of cleaning in the Arctic archipelago on Franz Josef Land has reached completion of the preparatory phase before starting the process of cleaning contaminated areas on Alexandra Land and Hooker Island. Personnel and equipment has been taken to the Alexandra Land, Hooker Island, Hayes Island and Rudolph Island, where field camps have been set up for the comfort and saf ety of the personnel, and buildings equipped for domestic activities. On the island of Alexandra Land temporary hangars have been set up for storage of vehicles and industrial equipment, and work is being done to eliminate the accumulated environmental damage. More than 115 people and 20 vehicles are working on the islands of the archipelago of Franz Josef Land. There are 12 high-temperature kilns for burning barrels, 3 lines for compaction (pressing) of barrels, and soil contaminated by oil is also being burnt. The program and project for the work to eliminate sources of negative impacts on affected areas of the Franz Josef Land archipelago was developed in 2011. The organization of the cleaning was entrusted to the Russian Arctic national park, an institution subordinated to the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. According to the program, in 2012 work towards the elimination of accumulated environmental damage is carried out on the islands Alexandra Land and Hooker Island (disposal of 8000 t of waste, removal of at least 60 thousand barrels, technical remediation of an area of 50 hectares). 650 million rubles have been allocated for this purpose. The work will continue until the end of October 2012, until the beginning of the winter season, after which the equipment will be conserved for the continuation of work in 2013.
Source: Press Service of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation .

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New environmental standard
In Russia, the National standard for conformity assessment of properties with environmental requirements has now been approved. GOST R 54964-2012 "Conformity assessment. Environmental requirements for real estate" will take effect from 1 March 2013. The document forms the legal and methodological framework for the implementation of a comprehensive system of quality assurance of properties and assists in the efforts to unify the 2


requirements concerning the property's influence on the environment and hum ans. The standard harmonizes the interests and needs of the construction industry with broad environmental requirements, and is also the first step towards the creation of a system in Russia for mandatory environmental safety in the design, construction and operation of real estate. The national standard includes a number of environmental requirements to property, including the use of environmentally friendly building materials of legal origin and energy efficient energy sources, economical water consumption and active use of construction waste. As said Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Rinat Gizatulin, the main objective of the approved standard is to set benchmarks of environmental requirements in the construction industry for all stakeholders, from customers and developers to masters. According to R. Gizatulin: "The introduction of the standard will minimize the environmental damage caused during construction." The introduction of modern technologies of natural resource management and ensuring environmental safety is currently a part of the Olympic construction. According to the director of the department of environmental support of Olympstroy Gleb Vatletsov, objects currently being built in the coastal and mountain clusters are two steps ahead of most Russian buildings when it comes to saving energy. The creation of a national standard is the result of collaboration between the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Regional Development of Russia and the NP Center for Environmental Certification - Green standards. In the development of the document experience with the "Green standards" system of voluntary certification of properties as well as the Olympic corporate "green" standard of Olympstroy was taken into account.
Source: Press Service of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation .

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Environmental news from the pre-Olympic Sochi
The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation Sergey Donskoy has instructed to ensure strict compliance with the requirements of the bid book Sochi-2014 in the field of environmental protection. This order was given during the field meeting on environmental support of the Olympic construction on September 8, 2012 in Sochi. The meeting was attended by the head of Rosvodresursy Marina Seliverstova, deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor Oleg Dolmatov, deputy head of Hydromet Igor Shumakov, senior vice president of Olympstroy Hamit Mavliyarov, representatives of the administration of the Krasnodar Region and Sochi, the Ministry for Emergency Situations and other responsible parties. M Seliverstova reported on the progress of the safe discharge of the flood and restoration of the hydrological regime of the Mzymta river. At the end of her speech, Donskoy instructed the competent authorities of the Krasnodar territory and business entities to ensure the implementation of works on objects and immediately implement all the necessary measures to clean up the river bed and carry out bank protection works to prepare for the flooding season. I Shumakov reported on the implementation of measures to ensure the hydrometeorological and avalanche safety of the Olympic facilities under construction. He also told about the integrated environmental monitoring system. Deputy Governor of the Krasnodar region Vadim Lukoyanov reported that the system of collection and 3


disposal of garbage from the territory of the city of Sochi, designed to ensure the implementation of the zero waste program, will be operational from October 11, 2012. During the meeting, S Donskoy particularly noted that, given the scale of the works in Sochi, the priority is the need to minimize harmful impact on the environment. The minister ordered to oblige contractors to implement measures to ensure environmental safety, and also avalanche and mudflow protection of infrastructure. At the end of the event S Donskoy stressed the need for effective cooperation between the participants of the Olympic construction to meet all environmental obligations in the preparation and conduct of the Olympic Winter Games in 2014. During the working visit to Sochi S Donskoy made a tour of the Mzymta valley where major works are carried out for the construction of Olympic facilities in the mountain cluster. The Minister inspected the background monitoring station in Krasnaya Polyana, as well as new mobile laboratories established to provide integrated environmental monitoring. S Donskoy held the grand opening of the aviary complex of the the Caucasian State Nature Reserve and the Great Boulevard ecological path with Khostinsky yew-boxwood trees.
Source: Press Service of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation .

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On the way to the Khibiny national park
On September 25, Russia's Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergey Donskoy held a meeting on the design of the Khibiny national park (Murmansk region). The creation of this park is foreseen in the Concept of development of the system of protected areas (PAs) of federal importance until 2020. The design work on the creation of the Khibiny national park is planned to start in 2015. The creation of the park will enhance the attractiveness and benefit the development of tourism infrastructure in the region, as well as the creation of a special economic zone of tourist-recreational type in the Khibiny mountains. The meeting participants discussed the possibility of environmental risks to the planned park during construction of infrastructure, related to the development of the apatite-nepheline deposit Partomchorr in the northern part of the Khibiny mountains (the license belongs to JSC North-Western Phosphor Company (NWPC)). During the meeting, the chairman of the board of JSC NWPC Sergei Fedorov described the options for constructing the industrial road for transport of ore from the Partomchorr mine in the north of the Khibiny mountains to the south-east towards the GOK near the Deer creek deposit. The WWF program coordinator for the conservation of biological diversity, Vladimir Krever stressed: "Environmentalists are not against the mine, but the construction of a road through the national park reduces its recreational value. Of the four options for the road, proposed by the company, there is o nly one we are not satisfied with." According to experts of RAS institutes and environmental organizations, the road variant proposed by NWPC" as the main one would harm natural heritage of flora and fauna, affect the development of eco tourism in the proposed park, reduce its environmental performance, and can also put in doubt the feasibility of establishing the Khibiny national park. Given this expert evaluation, as well as the public response, the Minister has decided to bring the road to the Partomchorr mine, to the discussion of the Public Council of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. 4


Donskoy instructed Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Rinat Gizatulin to engage JSC Russian Railways and JSC Apatite in a discussion on the use of existing transport infrastructure of these organizations, as well as to by the end of the year provide an environmentally safe road project option with minimal impact on the unique natural environment of the Kola Peninsula. The Natural Resources Minister stressed the need to further consider options for road construction, fully consider human impact on the environment and select the option most benign to the environment. "The construction of the GOK means socio-economic development of the region, but we must take all risks into account, we should not destroy the environment, the construction needs to done be with an eye on the environment," said the Minister. In this regard, during the meeting it was suggested that JSC NWPC present road alternatives passing outside the boundaries of the national park, and also take into account all the comments of experts and environmentalists.
Source: Press Service of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation .

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New Global Environment Facility program in Russia
Arkhangelsk region will become a model platform to develop a mechanism of implementation of the Small Grants Program of the Global Environment Facility (GEF SGP) in Russia. The decision was taken at a meeting of representatives of the GEF Secretariat and the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia. The proposed model territory will cover the Plesetsk, Kargopol and Primorsky areas. GEF experts made a visit to Archangelsk region in August 2012 to get acquainted with the suggested pilot site for the implementation of the SGP. This region was chosen based on the experience of Kenozero national park, which has been working with the GEF in inter-sector cooperation and implementation of the strategy of sustainable livelihoods of rural populations. In Arkhangelsk the GEF delegation held a meeting with representatives of the federal and regional authorities, environmental organizations, academia, and the Kenozersky and Vodlozersky national parks. Prospects of SGP in Russia and institutional framework for the program were discussed during the consultations. The program aims to support environmental-oriented business such as the development of rural tourism, crafts, fishing, and other traditional forms of non-destructive use of nature in rural areas. During the talks at the Ministry an agreement was reached on a total value of the Small Grants Program, implemented as a pilot, of the amount 750 thousand dollars. The size of a single grant can be up to 50 thousand dollars, provided the appropriate co-financing by the beneficiary. The SGP will, in the first place, be implemented on Protected Areas (PAs) or adjacent lands in the region. Summing up the meeting, the head of Ministry delegation, Director of International Cooperation Department Nuritdin Inamov underlined: "We support the GEF Small Grants Program; the projects implemented through it will significantly improve the environmental situation in the region. Positive experience in the Arkhangelsk region, we can extend to other regions of Russia."
Source: Press Service of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation .

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Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region
The X Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region, dedicated to the next meeting of the Arctic Council, was held September 5-7 in the Icelandic town of Akureyri. The conference was attended by parliamentary delegations of the Arctic Council countries: Denmark, Canada, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States, as well as representatives of the European Union and the indigenous populations of the region. The Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region (CPAR) is an interparliamentary international organization bringing together Parliamentarians of the Arctic region, as well as the European Parliament. The main purpose of CPAR is to promote cooperation with the governments of the Arctic region in addressing the problems of indigenous peoples in the north, as well as environmental and social issues in the region. The conference discussed the economic opportunities of the Arctic region and also the prospects of presence in the Arctic: the formation of communities, conducting research, the organization of management and regulations. A program for the development of the region, consisting of 51 points, was considered and adopted. The participants of the event came to an agreement that all oil production has to be carried out in consultation with scientists, in order to try to avoid negative environmental impacts. The conference was attended by the Permanent Delegation of Russian parliamentarians led by the member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation V Torlopov. The head of the Arctic group of deputies of the State Duma M Slipenchuk held a presentation with the title: The Arctic - a region of international cooperation and economic cooperation potential and prospects. In his speech, M Slipenchuk indicated the main objectives of development of the Arctic region. In particular, he proposed to develop a new organizational and legal framework for the international public-private partnership in the Arctic, to develop a concept of development of the region taking into account the interests of all the Arctic states. The speaker expressed the need to identify ways of international cooperation between states and private capital for the creation of international Arctic consortia. In this regard, he sees promise in the creation of the Arctic banking consortium as well as the international public-private consortium Northern Sea Route, with mainly Russian participation. Investing in the development of the Northern Sea Route, Russia could change the geopolitical situation on the world map. The Northern Sea Route can significantly reduce the transport distance. Its opening will make it possible to implement the Trans-Asian project involving the creation of new economic clusters, communication systems in the sea ports in the Arctic, the Azov-Black Sea and Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea.
Source: Web site http://www.mvslipenchuk.ru/

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Record small ice area in the Arctic
In mid-September, scientists reported a top record low ice area in the Arctic. The new value - 3.41 million square kilometers - is far lower than the previous record in 2007 (4.17 million). "This is a wake-up call. It speaks of the fact that our knowledge of climate change is far from perfect, as the reduction in ice is much faster than predicted by the models," said Alexey Kokorin, head of the Climate and Energy program of WWF Russia. At the same time, the record cannot be interpreted as the "quick clearing of the Arctic ice, promising easy development of the area," we hear from a number of politicians. First, scientists are still expecting the "clearing" to happen only in a number of decades. Secondly, this is only the minimal ice conditions specific to the end of September. In winter the Arctic, as before, is almost completely covered with ice. Therefore, the record is by no means a reason to forget that we have no way to combat oil pollution in ice.

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On September 19, the US National Data Center for Snow and Ice (NSIDC) reported that on September 16, 2012 the area of Arctic sea ice reached a minimum, which is much smaller than the previous record set in 2007. This picture of the state of the ice and is confirmed by the map of the ice condition analysis ice for 16 to 18 September, compiled by the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in St. Petersburg. Most of the decline of the ice falls on the Russian Arctic. According to AARI, the ice has drawn back very much to the pole - north of Franz Josef Land solid ice starts only after 850 N, something that was impossible to imagine in the XX century. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the record is an alarm signal. Such a rapid disappearance of the ice was predicted neither for 2012 nor for the last decade as a whole. This is evidence of the incompleteness of our knowledge of natural and anthropogenic climate change factors. Rows of satellite observations of the ice indicate the presence of cyclic processes and a downward trend. A five -year cycle can be traced to a certain extent, so a new record can be expected in 2017. In the period between 2007 and 2012, the most minimal ice area was in 2009 - 5.13 million km2. However, the physical reasons for such dynamics are far from fully understood. The best of the models suggest that the Arctic could be ice-free in the summer only towards the middle of the XXI century. By some estimates, 70% or even 90% of the melting in the Arctic is a consequence of growth in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. Even if the percentage is much lower, human impact is very important and all countries should prepare for a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, which can be achieved both by means of energy conservation and energy efficiency, and by means of a gradual transition to renewable energy sources. "In the coming decades, oil and gas production in the Arctic is unlikely to be much cheaper because of the reduced ice in summer. It is more likely that it will simply lose the competition with other sources of hydrocarbons, and then with renewable energy," concludes Alexei Kokorin.
Source: Press Service of the WWF Russia.

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Russian-American seminar on protected areas
A Russian-American seminar on exchange of experience in public management of specially protected nature areas (PAs) was held in Alaska from 16 September to 2 October 2012. The Russian delegation included heads and staff of eight marine and coastal protected areas (the reserves Kronotsky, Sikhote Alin, Kuril, Koryak, Komandor, Dzhugdzhursky, and Nenets, and the Russian Arctic national park). Head of the delegation was the Deputy Director of the Department of state policy and regulation in the field of environmental protection and ecological safety of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Vsevolod Stepanitsky. On the American side the seminar was attended by representatives of the U S National Park Service and the U S Wildlife, plants and fish protection service. Part of the seminar were meetings and workshops in Russia and the U S, exchange of experience in th areas, the development of tourism, environmental protection, research and interaction with the local for discussion of the current state of protected areas e management of ma rine and coastal protected education, the organization of the territories' population.

The participants visited seven national parks and refuges (reserves) in Alaska (the Kenai Refuge, Alaska Marine Refuge, Kodiak Refuge, Kenai Fjords National Park, Denali National Park, Chugach National Forest, and the Potter Marsh reserve) and got acquainted with their practical operation. The seminar was held in the framework of the UNDP/GEF/ Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Russia project "Strengthening of marine and coastal protected areas of Russia".
Source: Press Service of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation .

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Revival of the RGO Environmental Commission
On September 7, 2012, in Orenburg, the first meeting of the Standing Commission of Environmental Protection of the Russian Geographical Society since the end of its work in 1918 was held. "Environmental protection is one of the main statutory tasks of the Russian Geographical Society and the restoration of a body such as the Environment protection commission is an important step in this direction", said the President of the Society Sergey Shoigu. The standing Commission on environmental protection of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, founded in 1912, laid the foundation for the protection system for the natural heritage of Russia. On the basis of its proposals the General Directorate of physical planning and agriculture of the Department of agriculture of Russia organized dozens of expeditions to create reserves in the Volga delta, the Northern Urals, the Pechora taiga, Kamchatka, the Baikal region, and Sayan. One outcome of the Commission's activities was the country's first project to develop a network of nature reserves in Russia, most of which was implemented in the Soviet Union by the middle of the last century. The Barguzin, Caucasian, Kronotsky, and Sayan reserves, the Belukha nature park and the Galichya Mountain reserve - these are just some examples of natural areas protected due to the initiative of the Environmental commission. In the year of the 100th anniversary of the Commission's establishment, the management of the Society, headed by President S Shoigu decided to revive its work. Chairman of the Commission became the vicepresident of the Russian Geographical Society, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Geographical Sciences A Chibilev.
The Commission meeting listened to speeches of the First Vice-President of RGS N Gasimov, the Governor of the Orenburg region Y Berg, the Vice president of the Society and Chairman of the Enviornmental protection Commission A Chibilev, his deputy A Tishkov, vice presidents of RGS V Razumovsky and K Chistyakov, members of the Academic Board of the Society and the reconstituted Commission, G Rosenberg, K Dyakonov, Y Mazurov, E Schwartz, V Rozhnov, B Voronov, and T Kalikhman. Photo from the RGO web site

The Commission has identified the following key priorities for its work: - Design and synthesis of proposals for action to preserve the natural heritage of the Russian Federation and develop the network of protected areas; - Analysis of the current state and development of proposals for the protection of rare and endangered species of plants and animals red-listed on different levels; - Conduction of the conferences "Natural Heritage of Russia and neighboring countries"; - Involvement of the regional offices of the Society in the identification, description and inventory of the natural heritage of Russia, for the purpose of reserving them for the development of a network of specially protected natural territories; - Study of the problems of preservation of the natural heritage in the territories adjacent to Russia for the purpose of organizing cross-border cooperation; - Promotion of natural heritage; - Promoting the development of networks of natural heritage objects; - Organization of field research; 8


- Preparation of the Society's annual report, The Present State and Protection of the Natural Heritage of the Russian Federation. Following the meeting, it was decided to set up a working group that will represent the different regions of our country. The Standing Environmental Commission of the Russian Geographical Society currently has 37 members, but the number is constantly growing. Of course, for the effective operation of the Commission it is necessary to recreate the regional commissions on the natural heritage and landscape diversity that existed in different parts of the Society in the XX century.
Source: Own information

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Congress of the All-Russian Society for Nature Conservation
On September 12, 2012 the extraordinary XV congress of the All-Russian Society for Nature Conservation (ASNC), discussed the provision for a Board of Trustees of ASNC, as well as terms of its goals and objectives. The Board will assist in attracting subsidies and grants for the projects of ASNC (founded in 1924). It is planned that non-governmental organizations, various companies and government agencies will take part in the international, federal and regional programs. As Chairman of the Board of Trustees of this public organization the congress approved the deputy chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources, Environment and Ecology of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, M Slipenchuk. According to the chairman of the Central Council of ASNC, K Tsybko: "We have taken the election of the chairman of the board very seriously. It w as necessary to find someone who would not only truly share the goal of our society for the protection of nature, but who by their life experience has shown that the environment is his destiny, who from the beginning of his career was involved in the protection of nature. All the more, Michael Viktorovich is a scientist, head of a department at MSU. He is not only an expert in the environmental field, but also works in the field of legislation." M Slipenchuk has already delivered a number of initiatives in his new role. In particular, he proposed the creation of "public control" that would monitor violations of environment protection. "By making the VOOP website interactive, we can quickly and easily get information from citizens about any violations, whether illegal landfills or dumping of waste. All this can be reported by phone and put onto our website. If someone is unwilling or afraid to leave their name, they can report anonymously. We can always check the fact of violation, and then contact the appropriate agencies with a request to deal with it. I am sure that if we succeed in implementing this initiative into practice, the number of domestic disturbances in the field of environmental protection will be reduced." At the same congress M Slipenchuk advocated the revival and protection of natural springs, believing that this initiative will be a good educational task for children in the lower grades.
Source: Web site http://www.er-duma.ru/

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Social Forum on Sustainable Development
The international conference Social Forum on Sustainable Development, was held in Moscow September 26, organized by the Public Chamber (PC) of the Russian Federation, Institute for Sustainable 9


Development of the PC, Centre for Environmental Policy and Culture and the UN Development Program. The meeting discussed the results of the Rio +20 conference and the ensuing tasks for the civil society. The forum is establishing itself as a platform to bring together civil society and experts, as well as international cooperation, mainly in the former Soviet Union. The speeches of the forum participants were divided into three parts: CIS representatives (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Ukraine, Belarus), representatives of the Russian regions and experts, including representatives of NGOs. Particular interest was aroused by the direct participants of the Rio +20 (V Zakharov, A Averchenkov and others).
At the Forum's opening ceremony spoke First Deputy Secretary of the PC M Ostrovsky (left), Chairman of the PC's Commission for Civil Society Development I Diskin (right) and Director of PC Institute for Sustainable Development V Zakharov (center). Photo by T. Shifrina / Institute for Sustainable Development of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation

The speakers noted that the Rio +20 conference and its declaration "The Future. We want" is an important step of the global community in the direction of giving it greater sustainability. The participants expressed their willingness to participate actively in the Rio +20m process. As priorities on the road to sustainable development were mentioned: - The development of a broad social movement in support of sustainable development in the former Soviet Union - Active involvement in this activity by the business community, facilitating its transition to a green economy - Sharp intensification of awareness and education for sustainable development - Maximum consideration of regional and local features in models of sustainable development at the appropriate levels - Increased capacity for international cooperation. The forum was informative and creative. Most of the speeches delivered were bright, sincere and interested. Thus, it was confirmed that the post-Soviet area still has a high potential for sustainable development of the countries and peoples involved. This, however, was practically undiscovered by the Russian press, which reflects the low priority given to issues of sustainable development in the Russian society as a whole.
Source: Own information

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RUSSIAN SUSTAINABILITY NewsLETTER, October 2012

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