A new basis for EU-Russian environmental co-operation

The historic inaugural meeting of the EU-Russia Permanent Partnership Council on environmental protection has been hosted by the Finnish Minister of the Environment, Jan-Erik Enestam. Other high-level representatives participating in the meeting include the Russian Natural Resources Minister Juri Trutnev, the EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, and the State Secretary from the German Federal Environment Ministry Matthias Machnig.

"The document signed today establishes a firm basis for future dialogue between the EU and Russia on environmental issues", said Minister Enestam. "But rather than coming here simply to sign a piece of paper, we have rolled up our sleeves and got straight down to business, with several of the new working groups set up today immediately holding their first organizational sessions."

Climate change, biodiversity and economic development

The three main themes of the Helsinki meeting have been climate change, the preservation of biodiversity, and the links between economic development and the environment.

"We can at last say that we now have the structures in place to enable intensive and systematic collaboration. In the field of climate change mitigation, for instance, the EU and Russia can now conduct a genuine dialogue. This is a vital step forward, especially considering that the forthcoming November climate summit in Nairobi will be considering emission limits for the post-Kyoto period", stressed Enestam.

Enestam also highlighted the importance of initiating Joint Implementation (JI) emission reduction projects in Russia in line with the Kyoto protocol as soon as possible. "Investments in such areas as energy efficiency and clean technologies can benefit the whole world, as well as Russia itself", said Enestam.

New impetus for nature conservation

Russia has a crucial role to play in the conservation of biodiversity, especially in the northern coniferous forest vegetation zone. Enestam believes that EU-Russian co-operation can build on the successful experiences shared by Finland and Russia during their long bilateral co-operation on nature conservation. The involvement of the EU can give a new impetus to many conservation efforts, such as the protection of forests in the 1250 km long "green belt" zone along both sides of the Finnish-Russian frontier, as mentioned by Enestam.

International environmental impacts must be carefully assessed

"The importance of transboundary environmental impact assessments cannot be exaggerated", said Enestam. "One example of an enormous investment where wider environmental impacts must be extremely carefully examined is the proposed construction of a gas pipeline from Russia to Germany along the bed of the Gulf of Finland. I am convinced that the ongoing international environmental impact assessment process will benefit all the various parties involved in the project, by producing information that will be of use to decision-makers, researchers and the citizens of the coastal states around the Baltic Sea."

Enestam believes that experiences gained through this major project will also benefit future projects: "For this reason it is vital that Russia urgently ratifies the Espoo Convention on International Environmental Assessment."

The intensification of collaboration between the EU and Russia on environmental issues marks a welcome step forward in bringing ecological sustainability and social responsibility more to the forefront in economic dealings. Such responsibility is vital in all kinds of industrial investments, in co-operation on energy issues, and in the farming, forestry and fisheries sectors. This makes the harmonization of European and Russian environmental policies and legislation particularly important.

For more information:

Martti Poutanen, Counsellor, Ministr of the Environment, tel. +358 50 300 6379. Christian Sjöstrand, Special adviser to the Finnish Minister of the Environment, tel. +358 50 599 7876