Plenary Session of Nevsky Congress Discussed of Global and Regional Environmental Challenges and Ways of Their Tackling

Today, a plenary session of the Ninth Nevsky International Ecological Congress devoted to the topic “Ecology of the Planet – Sustainable Development” took place in the Tavricheskiy Palace – the IPA CIS headquarters.

President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin sent their welcoming speeches to the participants, organizers and guests, delivered by Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the North-Western Federal District Alexander Gutsan and Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Co-Chair of the NIEC Organizing Committee Viktoria Abramchenko respectfully.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also sent a video message with words of support of the international community to the participants and guests of the Congress.

Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko stressed that it was crucial that the discussion within the Congress would not be held for the sake of discussion, but would focus on practical output, concrete initiatives to tackle environmental issues, coming from researchers, businesses, civil society and public authorities.

Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Co-Chair of the NIEC Organizing Committee Viktoria Abramchenko noted the global nature of the climate change and cited its concrete consequences. She also informed the colleagues on the major programs and strategies in place in the Russian Federation aimed at reducing the negative impact on the environment. Deputy Prime Minister drew particular attention to the introduction of circular economy: in the nearest future recycled wastes will amount to half of the materials in construction, agriculture and industry.

As part of the plenary session, a video recorded at the International Space Station by the crew of the ISS-65 Expedition Oleg Novitsky and Peter Dubrov was presented to the participants. The astronauts noted the need for universal cooperation in environmental protection, including in space.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation, Deputy Chair of the NIEC Organizing Committee Alexander Kozlov noted that the creation of a unified space monitoring system would prevent natural disasters and man-made accidents, as well as ensure the country’s environmental safety.

Representatives of the parliaments and governments of the CIS Member Nations also spoke about environmental challenges in the Commonwealth and mechanisms to address them, including Speaker of the Mejlis of the Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan Gulshat Mammedova, Speaker of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbaeva, Deputy Speaker of the Milli Mejlis of the Azerbaijan Republic Adil Aliyev, Acting Minister of the Environment of the Republic of Armenia Romanos Petrosyan, Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus Andrei Khudyk, Minister of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan Magzum Mirzagaliev, as well as Chairman of the Committee of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova for Agriculture and Food Industry, Chair of the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Agrarian Policy, Natural Resources and Ecology Radu Mudreac.

The plenary session was also attended by former President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen and World Bank’s Country Director for the Russian Federation, Europe and Central Asia Country Renaud Seligmann, representatives of academia, businesses, and non-governmental organizations.