The key theme of the Forum this year is environmental sovereignty, and the business program of the event was devoted to discussing and developing proposals on key strategic guidelines of the country's environmental policy.
The Forum was attended by representatives of 11 countries, including the delegations of India, the Republic of Belarus, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, in the format of a conference call – representatives of Italy, Moldova, Chile, the USA, Kenya and the CAR.
According to Svetlana Radionova, head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Environmental Management, the Forum is one of the largest dialogue platforms on environmental issues, and resolutions adopted at such events should become a program for action for the next year, in the next few years. And they should be taken into account by all – regulators, public organizations, and businesses.
"It is ecology that is rapidly becoming the cornerstone of global political and economic trends before our eyes. Therefore, environmental sovereignty, as a country's ability to pursue a course of sustainable and ecological development, acquires a very special value and importance, especially for Russia. And this year's Forum is dedicated to this topic," said the head of the Altai Republic Oleg Khorokhordin.
The main event was the plenary session "From the ecology of thinking to ecological sovereignty". Environmental sovereignty is the right and opportunity to choose a model and path of sustainable development that takes into account socio–economic priorities, economic characteristics and the unique natural wealth of our homeland. Its components are green economy and finance, ecological thinking, eco–education and new standards of eco-education. As well as leadership in international eco-tourism.
Russia should be on the global environmental agenda, be one of the key countries in solving environmental problems. Ecovestka, including Altai, is a very good reason for interaction with our Eastern partners, and we need to draw more attention to Russian environmental initiatives.
According to the Chairman of the Board of Sberbank, German Gref, nature should be recognized as an asset that will be maintained and managed on the horizon of centuries. "As for Russia, our potential contribution to solving the global problem of nature conservation is unique. Rosstat estimated the cost of natural resources in our country at 104 trillion rubles. This is 19% of the total national wealth of the country. And it is obvious that we must use this very carefully," German Gref noted, "Together with the government, we have prepared a whole set of documents so that Russia is one of the key countries in the world not only in terms of territory size, but also in terms of potential for solving environmental problems."
The Roscongress Foundation has been supporting the Forum since 2022 and helping the Altai Republic develop this expert discussion platform. "This year the Forum has become international, and as it was noted, it has become the leader of environmental events. A federal platform on environmental issues is being successfully created here, and the Altai Republic claims to become a pilot region in terms of implementing environmental initiatives. It was during the Forum's work this year that the foundation for a new environmental policy was laid – federal experts' proposals for a new Strategy for Russia's Environmental Security were announced," said Igor Pavlov, Deputy Director of the Roscongress Foundation.
The discussion on what the new Environmental Safety Strategy should be was held during the session "Ecology of the future begins in Russia". Among the most important conclusions: the strategy should be developed in the near future until 2050; when creating a document, it is necessary to rely on science and ensure public control; it is important to hold discussions on international platforms, such as BRICS. "The most important task is to curb the person himself. He must realize that he is a part of a larger nature. Decision-making should be based on values, not benefits. Trying to monetize the solution of environmental problems, we will achieve nothing. We must start creating an Environmental Safety Strategy as soon as possible, we have someone to rely on, Russian science is strong. And we must offer this program to the whole world," said Valery Fadeev, Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation, Head of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights.
During the Forum sessions, scientists, politicians, public figures, federal and regional experts discussed such areas as sustainable development, resource conservation, health and the role of medicine in the development of new growth points of territories, the development of ecotourism and infrastructure, eco-thinking and eco-education, eco-entrepreneurship, support for environmental science. A large block of questions was devoted to maintaining a balance between the economy and the environment.
"We at REO consider it important to focus on the transformation of ecological thinking. Everything that we are implementing today within the waste management industry meets the key objectives of the National Project "Ecology" and the federal project "Closed Cycle Economy" under the supervision of Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko. Altai is among the regions of Russia where waste management infrastructure is developing and in the REO rating of the top 10 most active subjects of the Russian Federation in public-private partnership in the field of waste management. Potentially, four projects are planned to be implemented in the Altai Republic. The largest is the Maiminsky waste processing complex. This facility will be able to sort 64 thousand tons of waste per year, including 20 thousand tons of recycling," said Denis Butsaev, CEO of REO.
Within the framework of the Forum, a round table of the State Duma Committee on Ecology, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection was held, a presentation of 14 environmental projects specially selected by experts of the Roscongress Foundation Innovation Territory, as well as an action of the All-Russian environmental socio-educational project "Ecolata". The head of the Altai Republic, Oleg Khorokhordin, was approached by the Ecolates of the Altai Republic with a request to support the initiative to hold a Relay of Good deeds of the Altai Ecolates for the conservation of the nature of their small homeland in the republic, so that the Relay would be included in the book "Good Deeds of the Ecolates for the Conservation of Nature of Russia".
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