Brief History of Russia

Introduction

The world is simultaneously facing more pressure to protect the environment and the future of our world. The growing demand for consumer products and number of countries industrializing, with little or no regulation, is the main reason for the call of more regulation.

Protecting the environment, while meeting the worldwide demand for economic growth, will in many instances require joint efforts among nations and their individual governments. In this paper will discuss one of the countries, Russia. We will analyze the history of Russia and pollution, the government involvement, and we will make a comparision and identify some legal cases on the issue in Russia and finally sum up the findings.

Brief History of Russia

In the former Soviet Union, the government promoted production at all costs for decades. The strategy for economic growth in the USSR was established in the first Five Year Plan of 1929, and remained fundamentally unchanged for the next 50 years. At the time of the 1917 revolution, and despite a drive for industrialization in the late 19th century, economic development in Russia had continued to lag well behind that of the major Europeans countries and the United Sates. By the late 1930s, following enormous losses incurred during World War I and the sub- sequent civil war, and the perceptions of an increasing threat of further military conflict, the objective of catching up with the West became the dominant influence on economic policy.

The extent of pollution and ecological collapse in Russia is due to decades of ill-considered military and industrial development undertaken in virtual secrecy and with scant concern for the environmental and health consequences. In the Soviet Union, environmental officials were always kept subservient to the agencies that ran the military, utilities, mines, chemical industries and metal-works. Consequently, the purity and integrity of the environment were seriously compromised. Russian industry has never taken proper and reasonable ecological standards and requirements, lacking anything like resource-saving waste-free technologies and efficient purification facilities. As a result, pollution in Russia now threatens the health of millions of citizens and the safety of crops, water and air .

Air pollution

Today, air quality is very poor in Russia, with over 200 cities often exceeding Russian pollution limits, and is likely to worsen. According to the Eurasian Development Bank, a total of 44% of Russians live in areas with serious air pollution. "Toxic substances in the air exceed the maximum allowable concentrations in 185 cities with a population of over 61 million people, or 44% of Russia's population," the report says. Air pollution is responsible for 17% of