| The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO regards the
supreme goal of a democratic state as ensuring of flourishing
of the country, the well-fare and the highest living standards
for the citizens. One of the most important functions of the
government is ensuring of ecological safety of the citizens
and protection of nature as a national resource which is regarded
as a public asset.
The political and economic system of modern Russia, its supreme
political and economic administration grossly violates the
principles of ecological policies determined by the Constitution
of the Russian Federation: the rights of the citizens to a
friendly environment, reliable information on its condition,
recovering of the damage incurred in ecological violations,
rational use and protection of natural resources and careful
attitude to the natural riches that should be regarded as
a foundation for life and performance of the citizens.
1. The policies of Boris Yeltsin – Vladimir
Putin – Dmitry Medvedev created a system of underdeveloped
periphery capitalism in Russia almost entirely basing on the
maintenance and development of environmentally unfriendly
productions left from the Soviet times. Neither the government
nor business merging with the authorities pay any serious
attention to the safe environment, as it is connected with
reduction of their super profits. Consequently, Russia logically
and inevitably has found itself on the periphery of rapidly
developing innovative world.
1.1. Since mid 1990s the state-based and corporation-based
machinery has begun representing the interests of a narrow
group in power, as well as businesses connected with it, rather
than those of the entire nation. Naturally such a state does
not consider ecological interests be a priority neglecting
them. Thus, “pollutioncrats” – those who are engaged
in short-term welfare of the country at the expense of purposeful
weakening of the mechanisms of protection of public ecological
interests – are in power in Russia.
1.2. The authoritative political system and periphery economy
together with the petrodollars have led in the past ten years
to unprecedented wastefulness, corruption, and abolishing
of moral principles by the society and the state.
Ecological problems have been purposefully ousted
from the public consciousness. The ruling regime
is interested in ecological fooling of the citizens, as when
the citizens realise where anti-ecological polices of the
authorities are leading to, environmental problems will become
a factor of social protest which may develop into a political
struggle, as in late 1980s.
1.3. Anti-ecological policies have been actively conducted
in Russia, because the bulk of the profit of the commanding
bureaucracy comes from exploitation of natural resources and
environmentally unfriendly productions. The political
system based on the merger of the state power and business
is criminal in many aspects, for the health of the citizens
inclusive; it is always anti-ecological.
2. The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO
considers anti-ecological policies of Putin – Medvedev absolutely
unacceptable.
We regard the following be a political crime:
- purposeful weakening of the whole bulk of the legislation
on natural protection and natural resources (including the
legislation on water, forest and land resources and city-building)
for the so-called “raising of the investment attractiveness”
and increased possibilities for corruption;
- virtual liquidation of the state ecological control (including
liquidation of the Ministry for Natural Resources), laissez-faire
as regards the predatory use of natural resources and poaching
(also by top officials);
- passive attitude as regards rise of ecologically dependent
morbidity and mortality (especially in the zones of ecological
disasters);
- abolishment of practices of ecologisation of archaic industrial
enterprises that are incapable of provision of environmental
security and can not become an integral element for modernisation
of Russia’s economy;
- purposeful negligence of fiscal measures encouraging provision
of ecologically friendly environment around industrial enterprises;
- opening of borders for foreign radio-active waste and environmentally
unfriendly productions exported from other countries;
- facilitating of liquidation of the city and countryside
recreation zones and destruction of territories for recreation;
- support of the new “great construction projects” (Evenkiyskaya
and other hydro electrical power stations, canals, oil and
gas piping and roads destroying protected natural reserves)
dangerously affecting nature and living conditions at vast
territories for the benefit of the few;
- irreparable damage to the unique nature of the Western Caucasus
due to hasty realization of the ambitious Sochi Olympic Games
project;
- insufficient contribution of Russia to the international
efforts undertaken to oppose dangerous anthropogenic changes
on the planet.
3. Due to the implementation of anti-ecological policies today
we have two classes of Russian citizens as of their life expectancy:
representatives of the first class (enjoying access to high
quality foods, living in favourable ecological conditions
and having access to modern expensive healthcare services)
will live over 80 years; whereas representatives of the second
class will not see their pension age. The first class uses
the health of the second as a basis for its welfare.
4. There emerged an autocratic political group which regards
Russia as a country for deriving profit or simply as a place
for short-term work. They are not interested in long-term
efficient investments into environmentally friendly and high
technologies, preservation and economical use of natural resources
and raising of the living standards of the population. They
are interested only in receiving maximum and quick profit.
5. There will come the time when those who purposefully adopted
criminal anti-ecological decisions will bear at least political
and moral responsibility for multiple ecologically conditioned
diseases and death of millions of Russian citizens who died
premature due to ecological reasons during 1997 – 2009.
6. The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO
always considered protection of environment being one of its
political priorities. We are for the democratic development
of the country when new productions and use of natural resources
will improve and not deteriorate the socio-ecological situation,
outdated productions are subject to mandatory ecologisation,
and petrodollars should be used as a means for transfer to
innovational development rather than for the benefit of the
ruling bureaucracy; we are for Russia that will be in stream
and not in the periphery of the world development. This
requires abrupt turn to ecologisation of Russia’s domestic
policies and complex – political, economic and ecological
– modernisation of the country.
6.1. The YABLOKO party considers the following measures be
the first priority for ecologisation of Russia’s domestic
policy:
- revision of legislation for abolishing of the raw-oriented
trend in the economy and containing provision for protection
and improvement of the health of the population and protection
of nature, provision of environmental safety of the country
and its citizens;
- increase of abruptly curbed for the past years expenditures
on protection of nature to the figures allowing to provide
efficient ecological control and monitoring;
- adoption of a state programme for ecologisation of archaic
industrial enterprises deprived of the necessary purification
and waste treatment facilities;
- restoration of an independent federal body in charge of
protection of nature and not connected with the function of
the use of natural resources;
- development of ecological education, returning of mandatory
ecology course to the secondary school, abrupt increase of
the number of ecological programmes on TV and other mass media;
- increase of the number of national reserves and nature parks;
- abrupt increase of fines for environmental pollution (in
accordance with the “polluter pays” principle) and return
of the state ecological funds;
- efficient protection of ecological constitutional rights
of the citizens – the right to friendly environment, the right
to information about ecological situation and the right to
a compensation in case of ecological violations;
- development of public ecological movement;
- support of small and medium businesses connected with solution
of socio-ecological problems;
- support of research and development in the field of environmental
protection and efficient use of resources.
6.2. The YABLOKO party considers the following measures be
urgent for Russia:
efficient support of the efforts of the world community for
reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and Russia’s joining
to the Aarhus convention [on the access to environmental information
and public participation in environmental decision making]
and other international conventions and treaties in the field
of environmental protection;
support of the efforts of the world community for prevention
of dangerous anthropogenic climate change.
7. We think that fundamental problems of
ecology, environment, protection of health of the Russian
citizens can be solved only be means of building of a modern
democratic state in Russia with the real division of powers,
honest elections, independent court and parliament and public
control over the government. A sensible ecological policy
would be impossible without solution of these key problems
of political modernisation and decisive separation of business
from the state. The aforementioned tasks are the key goals
for our party.
8. The YABLOKO party states that if anti-ecological
policies of the Russian government are not changes, we shall
spare no effort so that to launch a mass-scale campaign for
expressing non-confidence to the authorities.
***
Without political, economic and ecological modernisation
of the country we shall become a generation which will definitely
lose Russia!
The YABLOKO party will spare no effort so that to prevent
this!
Sergei Mitrokhin,
Chairman of the YABLOKO party
See also:
YABLOKO
for Environmental Safety
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