Chuvashia, Buryatia, Orel and Kaluga region have become leaders among Russian regions in eco-efficiency and environmental responsibility, the report said the rating agency "Interfax-ERA". However, the picture can not be considered complete: data on the operation of companies and enterprises for research or provide them voluntarily or have been obtained from public sources. Issue of disclosure of environmental information in Russia is very serious, say environmentalists and social activists.
Among the 83 regions of Russia, ranked by level of ecological and energy efficiency working in their enterprises, Moscow was on the 65th place, St. Petersburg - on the 17th, Moscow region - on the 24th, Sverdlovsk region - on the 58th. Among the leaders of the rating - Chuvashia, Oryol Oblast, Buryatia, Kaluga region, Mari El, among outsiders - Primorsky Krai, Irkutsk, Tomsk and Tambov region.
The rating was made on four parameters: the number of products produced per unit of energy and resources, the ability of equipment to perform the work with less impact on the environment, the effectiveness of the change since 2000, as well as the transparency of environmental reporting. The survey covered more than 4 thousand enterprises and companies in Russia. The data were obtained either directly from the companies or taken from public sources (public reporting).
"Manual regions can improve the rating entity if disclosure will actively contribute to environmental reporting of their enterprises as transparent companies provide environmental information upon request or disclose them in their statements," - said the director of rating agency Alexander Martynov.
The rating results were presented in Moscow as part of the Congress of Environmental Protection, which officials and environmentalists have summed up the year of ecology in Russia. The issue of access to environmental information as part of the state, and on the part of companies has become a central discussed at the congress. Back in 2011, Dmitry Medvedev, being then president of Russia, ordered to include environmental and energy information into the standard public reporting companies. MEP 2018 promises to launch public information system in the field of the environment, accessible to the entire population, said at the congress, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergey Donskoy. According to the MEP, now online environmental monitoring system has already been established in the region of Sochi, the following experimental region will be Baikal.
In the meantime, experts and environmentalists say the problems with access to environmental information especially in the early stages of the implementation of major infrastructure projects, as well as the public opinion in decision-making. Russia has not yet acceded to the Aarhus Convention, which regulates public participation in decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters. The Convention was adopted 15 years ago, from the CIS countries except Russia have not signed it only Uzbekistan. Beginning with the 2011 accession to the Convention was discussed several times president and the government, was a list of orders of the president, as well as an action plan for implementation of the "Principles of state policy in the field of environmental development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030." In June 2013 the Ministry of Environment stated that "currently being studied arguments of supporters and opponents of the bill on accession to the Aarhus Convention."
According to environmental lawyer from "Bellona" Nina amendment on the question of the Congress joining the convention stage also remained unanswered. "Every time we ask about the Aarhus Convention, we often respond that the Russian legislation in the provision of environmental information even more stringent," - says Olga Senova of the Russian Socio-Ecological Union. "However, sending requests for information to various authorities and companies, we often do not get the answer", - complains Mrs. Senova.
Angelina Davydova
