The Federation Council Speaker hopes that a meaningful discussion will help to develop additional environmental safety measures.
The environmental agenda is now a priority in Russia and elsewhere around the globe, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko told reporters.
She noted that, on the President’s instruction, a set of environmental safety measures has been developed and will be implemented by the authorities in conjunction with businesses.
According to Valentina Matvienko, it is imperative to improve the environmental culture and corporate environmental responsibility for manufacturing activities. “It is important to go beyond administrative or other measures and to impose financial penalties on irresponsible participants of economic processes,” she said.
At the Nevsky Ecological Forum to be held in May, the Speaker went on to say, joint actions to keep the planet clean will be discussed with specialists and experts, as well as officials from foreign states. “Environmental threats are among the most serious challenges facing all countries,” she said.
Valentina Matvienko hopes that a substantive discussion will take place during the forum and additional measures will be worked out.
The Speaker believes the legislators carry a huge responsibility. “We have just started the work to finalise the environmental part of Russian legislation, and we still have much left to do,” she said. “We must bring everything up to standard, which will allow us to combat various violations and focus more on the environment,” she said.
Valentina Matvienko said the environmental agenda was a serious matter. “All levels of government, civil society institutions and individual citizens are working on it,” she said. “We can see from volunteer activities how environmental education is improving, starting from schools and even kindergartens.”