Commonwealth Parliamentarians Review Environment-Related Documents

On 24 May, a retreat meeting of the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Agrarian Policy, Natural Resources and Ecology was held in Zelenogorsk.

The meeting was chaired by Deputy Chair of the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Agrarian Policy, Natural Resources and Ecology, member of the Committee of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Agriculture and Food Policy and Environmental Management Viktor Novozhilov.

The members of the commission considered the draft Model Law on Organic Agriculture. Information about it was announced by head of the IPA CIS working group on the drafting of this document Oleg Mironenko and chief research officer at the Institute of Legislation and Legal Policy under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Alimjon Akilov. The document will be sent to the parliaments of the IPA CIS Member Nations for expert opinions.

The meeting considered the draft Model Law on Assessment of the Potential Impact of Mining Activities on the Health of the Population Living in the Adjacent Territories.

The experts were also briefed on the revised draft Model Law on Ambient Air Protection. The speakers noted that more than twenty years had passed since the previous Model Law had been adopted.

Viktor Novozhilov and Associate Professor of the Environmental Law Department of the Faculty of Law at St. Petersburg State University Elena Andreeva briefed the participants on the revised draft Model Law on Soil Conservation.

Also at the meeting information on the draft Model Law on Environmental Monitoring was presented.

Viktor Novozhilov and Head of the laboratory of Geoecology and sustainable nature management of the Department of international complex problems of nature management and ecology of MGIMO University Natalia Ryazanova familiarized the experts with the progress of the draft Model Concept of Environmental Education for the CIS countries.

Viktor Novozhilov, senior research associate of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences Aleksey Gunya, and Leading research associate of the Department of Environmental and Agrarian Legislation of the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation Elena Galinovskaya spoke about the development of the draft Model Concept for Sustainable Development of Mountain Territories for the CIS Member Nations.

A significant step in the development and protection of mountain territories in the Commonwealth was the adoption of the Model Law on Development and Protection of Mountain Territories in 2020. The document establishes the basic concepts important for the policy-making in the field of development of mountain territories.

Head of the Decommissioning Programme Management Unit of JSC TVEL Mikhail Litvinov made a report on the Feasibility of the Preparation of a Model Law on Radioactive Waste Management. The parliamentarians recognized the development of the Model Law as expedient and decided to address the IPA CIS Council with a proposal to include it in the long-term plan.

The participants of the meeting heard information on preparations for the forum “Sustainable development of mountain territories”, which was presented by Secretary of the Commission Natalia Amburtseva. The event will take place on 12-13 October 2023 in the Tavricheskiy Palace in St. Petersburg.

The meeting was attended by parliamentarians and experts from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, representatives of relevant departments, staff members of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat.