SPACE WIRE
Fifteen percent of Russia badly polluted, says Putin
MOSCOW (AFP) Jun 04, 2003
President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that 15 percent of Russia's territory could be classified as an environmental disaster zone and called on his government to take urgent action.

Putin's comments came only hours after one his top aides said that Russia's economy would be hurt if the country ever decided to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases.

But Putin identified poor environmental conditions as one of the most serious problems facing the livelihood of ordinary Russians.

"The ecological situation is far from ideal," Putin told a meeting of a government advisory body called the State Council.

"Nearly 15 percent of our territory is in a critical or near-critical state," Putin said.

He added that the worst affected regions were the heavily industrialized zones of central Siberia and the Urals mountains region.

"Ecology must become an important element in our government policy," the Kremlin chief said.

He added that the cabinet must adopt an "environmental doctrine" that encouraged industries to take responsibility for environmental issues.

"Right now, industries are not responsible for harming the environment, and are not encouraged to invest in projects" limiting ecological damage, Putin said.

He added that some government ministers "harbor the illusion" that Russia's natural resources could be used for profit at will.

Leading environmental group WWF International earlier this month blamed Russia's Minister for Economic Development and Trade, German Gref, for blocking the country's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.

Another top Russian official -- Putin economic adviser Andrei Illarionov -- agreed with Gref on Wednesday that the protocol could only hurt business in the short term without providing any visible gains.

"The advantages for Russia in ratifying of the Kyoto Protocol look pretty negligible at the moment," Illarionov told reporters.

The Kyoto Protocol requires industrialized countries to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions held responsible for global warming -- so-called "greenhouse gases" -- by 2008-2012 in relation to their 1990 levels.

US rejection of the Kyoto Protocol has made Russia's ratification all the more essential for the protocol's supporters since the treaty can come into force only after it has been ratified by countries that accounted for at least 55 percent of the world's carbon dioxide emissions in 1990.

But Illarionov said there were several economic factors, which he failed to detail, that still had to be taken into account before Russia signed up.

"There are several important questions to which we have not yet received answers, and which must still be cleared up," he told reporters.

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