Sergei Mironov spoke at the Climate Change Seminar of SWS Commission held in St.Petersburg

July 15. The Chairman of the Council of Federation Sergei Mironov took part in the seminar held by the Socialist International Commission for a Sustainable World Society.

The workshop was attended by the Secretary General of the Socialist International Commission Luis Ayala,members of the Commission Ricardo Lagos (ex-president of Chili), Goran Persson (former prime-minister of Sweden), Alexander Kwasniewski (ex-president of Poland), Beatrice Paredes (the Chairman of the Institutional Revolutionary Party of Mexico), and other famous personalities of the international social-democracy. The Russian group of experts was presented by the leading scientists, political analysts, leaders of research institutes and public offices.

The participants of the seminar discussed the problems of natural source anomalies, environmental security, assessing of the alternative sources of energy, questions of improving national and international regulations protecting water and forests. All the experts agreed that the principal goal of their meeting was to find answers to the question how to prevent the environment destruction under the influence of economy. They expressed the opinion that the thing of the future was ecological economy and only the consolidated effort of the world community could provide its sustainable development. Addressing the meeting the Secretary General of the Socialist International Commission Luis Ayala together with other members of the Commission qualified the justice to be among the key factors of sustainability of modern society.

The Chairman of the Council of Federation Sergei Mironov presented his report “Solution to the problem of climate change by means of economic growth based on justice, employment and environmental friendliness”. The speaker stressed that the question of negative influence on climate needed to be solved as soon as possible. He noted that there was no possibility to prevent many of the up-to-day treats to environment within the traditional models of economic development. “The complicated and global character of climate change requires the special solution strategy”, he said.

Sergei Mironov explained to the experts his vision of the strategy’s principal elements. First, the philosophy of human-nature interaction itself should be changed. It must be based on the economy of natural resources. Secondly, the sustainable development implicates reduction of social contradictions. The essential aspects of this process are elaboration of more equitable welfare, perfection of decision-making system, preservation of multicultural world, reasonable limitation of unrestrained consumption.

Beside that, he added, realization of national strategy of sustainability in each country assumed greater importance. The forth necessary element is transition from national or regional security strategies in different spheres to global ones.

Addressing to the members of the seminar Sergei Mironov paid attention to the questions of energy. In his opinion, the matter of great importance is to develop resource-saving technologies that give additional impetus to ecologically safe growth. As another priority he mentioned the wide usage of alternative energy as well as technologies of low or even ‘zero’ emission.

The speaker said that the growth of economy must be accomplished with real ecological responsibility of state or business.

Noticing the important role of the Kyoto protocol that became the base for lowering negative consequences of climate change Sergei Mironov stressed the obvious imperfection of the document. He sees the agreement that is to replace the protocol after 2012 to be more flexible and capable of consolidation of all the main industrial countries. He also stated in favor of considerable strengthening of the ‘forest’ section of the post-Kyoto agreement and dwelt on the issue of rational water resources use.

Resuming his report the Chairman of the Council of Federation said: “It is absolutely obvious that the need in more effective international mechanisms that allow responding to the climate change is ripe”. He argued in favor of elaboration of global system for monitoring and prognosis of climate change. Nowadays, Sergei Mironov said, the idea of international rescue service had assumed the practical point. The speaker stressed that the complex of global reserves might became another important element of the international security. It should be also examined the question of forming the insurance fund against ecological and climate risks, he said.

According to the Council of Federation Press Service.