Russian Environmental Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Russian Environmental Policy - Essay Example People's health continually worsens. The middle age of men for last years has made only 68 years. Each tenth child is born intellectually or physically defective owing to abnormalities at genetic level. In the majority of industrial regions of the country one third of inhabitants has various forms of immunologic deficiency. According to World Health Organization (WHO) standards people of the Russian Federation is on the verge of degeneration. A great deal of territory of the country are occupied with zones of ecological disaster and extreme ecological situations. Only some small part of inhabitants of towns and little villages has a possibility to breathe the air, which meet the requirements of quality standards. About 50 % of potable water consumed by the population does not answer any hygienic requirements. The list of similar data is extensive enough. Until recently in Russia in general there was no state policy in the field of ecology. Russia inherited a legacy of environmental problems from the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991. 'The Soviet Union's emphasis on industrial production and blatant disregard for the environment has left Russia grappling with numerous environmental problems. ... Furthermore, Russia's ongoing transition to a market-based economy has meant that the government has been strongly disposed to promoting economic growth rather than environmental protection' (EIA, 2004).Such a situation becomes inadmissible during transition to market relations when ecological and economic interests come into conflict with each other. There is a necessity to bring to the norms of the ecological law of the Russian Federation for the conformity with the norms of international law. It assumes the development and acceptance by the Russian science and law the most effective international concepts and ideas in the field of environment protection.During the past decade, the disastrous effects of Soviet development and industrialization policies have come to light, raising awareness in Russia of the need to protect the environment and prevent future damage. It should be mentioned that Russia has made a progress in addressing the Soviet environmental legacy. According to last international summits among priority directions in the field of activity connected with an environment following three directions come to light: management of natural resources as a basis of eradication of poverty and steady social and economic development; maintenance of population with pure water and protection of water resources; preservation of a biodiversity. Following these directions, priority in universal scale, Russian Federation has worked the priority issues named in three Russian documents of a national level: The Russian State Ecological Doctrine; National Biodiversity Conservation Strategy; The federal targeted program Ecology and Natural Resources of Russia (2002-2010) From