24.05.2017

This was announced by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation Sergey Donskoy speaking at the opening of the International Conference "Green Financing for Sustainable Development", which takes place within the "St. Petersburg Initiative" on May 18, 2017.

The "St. Petersburg Initiative" for 4 years of its existence has established itself as an effective international platform for public-private partnership aimed at discussing and resolving pressing environmental issues, both in the Baltic Sea region and beyond.

According to the head of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia.

S.Donskoy stressed that the relevance of the topic "Green financing for sustainable development" is not in doubt and tested by the experience of leading world powers. "I am confident that the Conference will be Russia's contribution to the decisions of the Group of Twenty, under the chairmanship of Germany," he said.

According to the Minister, when choosing ways to achieve sustainable development, governments should have room for maneuver in national politics, taking into account the specifics of their countries. "Orientation towards ecology in the 21st century is an essential factor affecting the investment attractiveness of countries in general. From the world experience it follows that the technologies aimed at reducing the impact on the environment, in the long run, are more competitive, "S.Donskoy noted.

"Summing up the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals over the previous 20 years, and participating in the discussion of the Agenda for the period after 2015, we should note a number of tasks of the environmental block, which require further efforts to address them," the head of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia said. First and foremost, according to the Minister, this is a solution to the problems of air pollution, water resources, ecosystem degradation, waste utilization and the elimination of accumulated environmental damage.

S.Donskoy noted that the Government of the Russian Federation is working to resolve these problems, improving, first of all, the legislative base, which will become a necessary springboard for the transition to concrete practical actions. As examples, the Minister named the Energy Strategy of Russia until 2030 and a number of other normative legal acts and state programs for individual industries.

"In the end, the quality of life depends on effective actions of the state in the sphere of environmental protection. In addition, the introduction of "green" priorities in the economy is one of the guarantors of its sustainable and long-term growth. The key players in this work are also the largest industrial companies, financial institutions and public organizations, "S.Donskoy noted.

China, which was chairman of the G20 in 2016, called the increase in the contribution of the financial sector to environmentally sustainable economic growth among the top priorities. On the basis of successful practice, German partners, in the framework of their chairmanship, also pay great attention to this issue. This topic is reflected in the agenda of the presidency of Russia and the PRC in the BRICS".

The Minister underlined the significant role of the Chinese partners in the development of international cooperation in the field of "green financing".

Within the framework of today's meeting, representatives of the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the PRC, the World Bank, UNEP, the World Wildlife Fund, the German Development Bank, a number of major Russian banks that are the flagships for the development of new environmentally-oriented models of the economy, The topic of "green financing" in their reports and presentations.

The conference "Green Financing for Sustainable Development" is the first of its kind organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia and I am sure it will make a significant contribution to the promotion of the concepts mentioned above in society, in political circles, in business and financial environment.

the Minister summed up.

Source: Ministry of Nature

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