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- MOSCOW, Russia (ENS) - Russia
is in environmental crisis, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) has concluded in its first ever survey of the country's
environmental performance. Despite the passage of a raft of new laws since
the USSR's collapse in 1991, many environmental trends are still negative,
the agency finds.
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- Though of most immediate concern to a Russian population
suffering increased mortality due to worsening environmental quality, the
crisis also has broader European and global implications, the report notes.
In particular, the country remains a major contributor to regional and
global environmental problems such as acid deposition and greenhouse gas
emissions.
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- Cotton fabric factory in Moscow (Photo courtesy Taylor
Woodrow) Marking efforts by the Russian government in the early 1990s,
the OECD salutes a series of laws and administrative reforms aimed at setting
a new framework for environmental policy in the context of a liberalised
and more open economy. But developments on the ground have not matched
these intentions, it finds.
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- Environmental issues have had a lower priority in government
in the second half of the 1990s, the report says, since 1996 Russia no
longer has a national environment minister. Newly introduced economic instruments
have "lost much of their effectiveness" because of inflation.
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- Implementation of the polluter pays and user pays principles
are "weak." Federal funding of environmental activities has fallen
to just 0.5 percent of total environmental expenditure - a level the OECD
says "arouses legitimate concerns."
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- Among the results of these trends, the OECD reports,
air pollution levels in many Russian cities exceed international health-based
standards, while drinking water infrastructure has deteriorated so far
that water borne disease and mortality have increased. Arrangements to
safeguard a growing stock of hazardous wastes, including radioactive wastes,
have been "compromised," presenting an "imminent health
risk" in some localities, the OECD reports.
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- Along with a 40 percent contraction in Russia's economy
since 1991, many types of pollution have fallen. However, the OECD finds
that pollution cuts have been smaller in percentage terms than the economic
contraction. The result is that Russia's pollution and resource intensity
has actually worsened over the decade and is now "several times"
higher than the OECD average.
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- Apparently unbowed by the "grim picture" it
paints of Russia's environment, the OECD makes a series of recommendations
aimed at reversing the tide, starting with stronger enforcement of environmental
laws and a streamlining of the regulatory framework.
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- The OECD is a group of 29 member countries that defines
itself as a "club of like-minded countries." The Russian Federation
is not a member. OECD countries produce two-thirds of the world's goods
and services, but it is not an exclusive club. Membership is limited only
by a country's commitment to a market economy and a pluralistic democracy.
The core of original members has expanded from Europe and North America
to include Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Mexico, the Czech Republic,
Hungary, Poland and Korea.
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- <http://www.ends.co.uk
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- {Published in cooperation with ENDS Environment Daily,
Europe's choice for environmental news. Environmental Data Services Ltd,
London. Email: <mailto:envdaily@ends.co.ukenvdaily@ends.co.uk}
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- © <http://www.ens.lycos.com/Environment
News Service (ENS) 1999. All Rights Reserved.
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