The Publishing House "Argumenty i Fakty" held a press conference on the topic «The ecological block of the President's message to the Federal Assembly: challenges and opportunities of the «green» time». As part of the event, Russian and American experts in the field of ecology discussed what role ecology can play in the development of international relations and how Russia can act on the world stage in addressing environmental issues.
Vadim Petrov, co-chairman - state secretary of the Ecological Chamber of Russia, member of the Scientific and Technical Council of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia, advisor to the director of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "GOIN" of the Russian meteorological service, noted that the state and development of the Earth's biosphere is extremely important for the inhabitants of our planett and humanity needs to focus on development of "green" technologies.
“It should be noted that the COVID-19 pandemic gave a significant impetus to both such a worldview and the development of green technologies, the global green economy as such. Under the conditions and against the background of this understanding, disputes about the anthropogenic (pro or con) nature of global warming, the practical justification of the Paris climate agreement (and its forerunner, the Kyoto Protocol), fade into the background and acquire a deeply scholastic character. The spirit of the era requires focusing on "green" priorities. After a kaleidoscope of public events with the participation of our president, I would boldly call the modern era the «green time».
And the global climate “thaw” can only be dealt with by “thawing” international relations, primarily through the institutions of public diplomacy. Within the framework of the new "green time", the foundations for a new strategic partnership between Russia and the Euro-Atlantic world (more broadly, the important and most important foreign partners of our country) in building a new world order can be formulated and embodied.
In the domestic policy of our present-day Russia, the "green time" opens up qualitatively new opportunities and prospects for interaction between the state and civil society. They can and should start working closely together to ensure a healthy living environment for us, Russians, and our descendants. Ecology should be the basis of life, not in spite of, but in the mainstream of global transformation,” he said.
In turn, Vladimir Koptev-Dvornikov, co-publisher of the ecological newspaper "GREEN CITY", spoke about the role of Russia in the world arena in the field of ecology.
“Russia must fight with the United States and other EU countries for the title of a country making a significant contribution to the battle against global warming. It is our duty to fight for the health of the Russian people and for our international image to be outstanding for our contribution to nature conservation. For ecology to become an integral part of Russian life we need to convince large corporations to be environmentally responsible. An ecological lifestyle must also be attractive and fashionable for our citizens. Keeping the courtyard, entrance, city clean, driving environmentally safe transport, thinking about the nature where children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren will live - it is the task of every Russian,” he explained.
The event was also attended by Ivan Starikov, deputy chairman of the All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation Central Council, acting state adviser of the Russian Federation, and Alexander Stotsky, general director of the expert center "Project Office for the Development of the Arctic" (PORA).
According to Ivan Starikov, environmental issues should be a priority and stand «above the contradictions in all other areas, environments and industries».
“Consequently, “green time” is the basis for the formation of a modern, open and fair world order. “Without annexations and indemnities,” that is, without sanctions and other restrictions of this kind, territorial claims, extraterritorial interference in political and state processes, etc.,” he said.
Starikov also suggested Russia and the West to agree on a number of issues, in particular, to create «in parallel with the United Nations, the Green Council - an analogue of the UN Security Council in the field of living environment. The Green Council - through the mechanisms of consultations and resolutions - will approve priority international projects in the subject area, where Russia can play one of the key roles.» In addition, he proposed exempting «corporations that will participate in projects from the list of the Green Council in Russia from any sanctions, removing any barriers to the creation and global activity of joint ventures in this area.»
Alexander Stotsky stressed the need to conduct environmental monitoring to track anthropogenic changes and prevent emergencies, which, in turn, will help «prevent emergencies, promptly, respond to ongoing changes, emergency situations.»
“This applies to all components of ecological systems, including the climate agenda. On the territory of the Arctic, monitoring of atmospheric air, the state of permafrost, surface waters, and biodiversity is of great importance. Emergencies in these latitudes have colossal consequences both for nature and for the peoples inhabiting these spaces. Eliminating accidents is a huge financial cost, not to mention the long-term consequences for the biosphere. And it is timely environmental monitoring that helps prevent emergencies,” he added.
Experts from the United States also noted that the US and Russia should join forces to successfully address environmental challenges. Cooperation between these two countries will help overcome the global environmental crisis.
Experts hope that the "Boston Green Tea", which will be held in Glasgow on December 16, 2021, will help strengthen the global community and allow all states to move to global cooperation to solve environmental problems.
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