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Report on the 2006 activities of the Environmental Rights Center “Bellona”
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Bellona-St Petersburg
- Bellona-St Petersburg
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- ERC Bellona Organization Strategy 2006-2007
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St. Petersburg’s civic organization, the Environmental Rights Center Bellona (henceforth referred to in this report as the Center or ERC “Bellona”) was founded in April of 1998. The founders of the organization are the widely-respected human rights activists Boris Pustyntsev and Yuri Vdovin; attorney and human rights activist Yury Shmidt; and journalist and environmentalist Viktor Tereshkin.
In the period covered by this report, the Center carried out its activities in full accord with its mission and the strategy adopted for 2006-2007.
Mission of the Center – to provide for citizens’ right to a healthy environment, access to information about the environment, participation in the decision-making process regarding issues affecting the environment, as well as decisions involving restitution for any damage or harm to citizens and society that results from the violation of environmental law.
The fundamental strategic goals that the Center pursued in 2006 are as follows:
• To achieve observance of Russia’s environmental laws and provide legal and informational support to citizens caused to suffer as a result of violations against environmental rights of citizens and ecological norms.
• To educate and inform citizens about environmental problems through private mass media and Internet list servers and provide consultation concerning environmental law and citizens’ rights; to unite ecological and rights advocacy groups with the assistance of mass-information resources and promote the formation of an environmental and human rights advocacy community as well as civic society in Russia.
• To promote the involvement of citizens and NGOs in the decision-making process concerning the crafting of environmental policy. To create conditions that will encourage citizens to attend public hearings, carry out environmental expert evaluation and get involved in other civic actions.
• To promote international cooperation in solving environmental problems and create federal and regional environmental protection laws that would correspond to international standards.
• To further develop the Center’s capacities and transform it into a source of environmental expertise and informational and legal resources for Russian NGOs.
Political Situation in Russia in 2006 and its affect on the Center’s activities
Negative trends in Russian society’s democratic development in 2006 continued to grow.
In 2006, Russia’s authoritarian-bureaucratic apparatus, despite public protests, was able to pass new laws that, within the period of a single year, managed to undo the achievements of the democratic reforms of the early 90s.
In the past year, laws have been passed, which serve to abridge such basic human rights as the freedom of assembly; free, democratic elections; participation of the public in the decision-making process regarding projects entailing environmental risks, and the free spread of information (including information about the state of the environment).
On April 18th 2006, amendments to the NGO law went in to effect. As a result of the passage of these amendments, the procedure for registering new NGOs became more complicated, thus impeding the activities of international civic organizations and Russian NGOs, and introduced a new system of reporting – in addition to the already existing one - for NGOs. According to independent experts’ estimates, complying with the rules of the new application and reporting process (which presumes the time and labor of both an attorney and accountant) could cost NGOs anywhere from 100 to 300 million dollars a year in total. The lack of regulatory laws governing the reporting process could potentially create problems for any organization preparing their reports. An improperly completed reporting application can result in the immediate shut-down of undesirable and “excessively independent” NGOs. Due to the fact that international foundations are often the only source of grants for the majority of civic organizations, the government continues to accuse Russian NGOs of serving foreign interests.
Federal law No.149-F3 “On information, information technology and the protection of information,” and Presidential Decree No. 90 from February 11th 2006, introduced new limitations on dissemination of certain information, in particular information about environmentally hazardous sites such as nuclear power plants.
In 2006 the State Duma, without any consultation with environmental experts, passed the new Forest and Water Code of the Russian Federation. On January 1st 2007, the federal law “On introduction of changes in the municipal building code of the Russian Federation and certain other legislative acts” finally went into effect. The law, passed in 2006, has practically eliminated requirements for government expert evaluation of projects.
The Russian economy, under the conditions of state capitalism, has continued to become more dependent on the extraction and export raw materials. Given the high prices for oil and gas, Russia only needs the West for the self-affirmation of its bureaucratic capitalism and ruling clans. Oil and gas have become decisive instruments of Russian domestic and foreign policy, which is evident from the “gas war,” the Ukraine at the beginning of January 2006 and then again with Belarus at the end of December 2006. At the same time, the government considered a project for the construction of a new pipeline system from Eastern Siberia to the Pacific Ocean (ESPO), the route of which would run precariously close to Lake Baikal. Thanks to the efforts of civic organizations including the ERC Bellona, the pipeline’s route was altered and will now run as far as 40 km away from the lake.
At their meeting in St. Petersburg in June 2006, the leaders of the G-8 adopted a plan of action regarding the strengthening of global energy security. The plan includes, among other things, measures directed toward increasing energy efficiency and energy conservation, as well as toward the solution of the problems of climate change and sustainable development.
At the beginning of 2006, a new atomic energy strategy for Russia was announced, which included a call for increased use of nuclear energy – in other words, for the construction of new nuclear power plants. This was a new call to public opinion, as the announcement coincided with the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl tragedy.
Lastly, in regard to the already virtually empty plane of independent media in Russia, a bill was recently adopted that will expand the definition of extremism. Extremism, reports the Committee for Defense of Journalist (CDJ), will now be understood to mean any criticism of the actions of government officials by the media. CDJ notes that the bill carries the following potential punishments for offending journalists: incarceration for up to three years, suspension of professional activities, and or the shutting-down of their publisher.
Such activities of the government over the course of the year spurred civic groups toward even more active advocacy. In the run-up to the G-8 summit, many organizations participated in an alternative summit with the goal of working out recommendations for the leaders of the eight countries. ERC “Bellona” was among the organizations participating in this summit.
Unfortunately, forecasts for the democratization of Russia in 2007 and 2008 are less than encouraging because 2007 and the following year will be election years for the federal legislative and executive branches.
2. Activities of the organization
During this period ERC Bellona’s activities focused on three main areas:
● Expert
● Legal
● Informational
2.1 Expert trends in the area of energy and security
It is in the framework of this direction that ERC Bellona has worked on the following reports and position papers:
• Extension of resources and operation terms of Russian nuclear power plants
• NPP decommissioning
• Problems of the nuclear service vessels decommission
• The decommission of the Lepse service ship
Apart from this, ERC Bellona continued preparing for materials for a report on oil and gas industry development in the North-West of Russia.
Within this in mind, a two-day international conference “Impact of the Public and Whistleblowers on Energy and Nuclear Policy” was held on June 1st and 2nd. Participants included more than 60 nuclear experts, NGO leaders working on nuclear problems as well as scientists and journalists representing 31 NGOs from 26 cities in Russia, the United States, Finland and Norway.
The conference was organized in cooperation with the Government Accountability Project NGO (USA). Russian NGOs “Movement for Nuclear Safety,” “Green World”and «The Center for Russian Environmental Policy» also contributed to preparations for the conference.
The central subject of the conference was nuclear safety and the protection of «whistleblowers» at companies who raise concerns about safety, health protection and ecology.
The participants developed their proposals for the leaders of the G8 countries on nuclear energy development. The recommendations were sent out to media groups and published in two languages on the Bellona web site (www.Bellona.org).
The recommendations were made public at a press conference at the Regional Press Institute on June 5th. Information about the conference was broadcasted by Russia’s national television network NTV and Channel 5, Radio Russia and Ekho Moskvy radio, and articles about it appeared on the websites of Voice of America and Radio Free Europe.
Another step in this direction was the International Alternative Forum “Energy Justice vs. Energy Security”.
The forum took place from 9-10 July (before the G8 Summit) and was organized by ERC Bellona in cooperation with the Union of Citizens for a Green Alternative (UCGA) and the environmental protection group Eco-Defense, and was attended by environmental and green organizations from France, Germany, Sweden and Lithuania. The goal of the forum was to relay the position of environmental NGOs and Greens on the issue of energy security to the leaders of G8 countries. Deputies of the European Union Parliament (MEPs) along with deputies from the Swedish parliament also took part in the conference.
After the forum, a press conference was held and youth organizations staged protests against the signing of an agreement at the summit regarding the import of nuclear waste from the United States onto the territory of the Russian Federation. Two journalists from ERC Bellona were arrested during the demonstrations and held for eight hours.
The main suggestions of the forum were:
• A moratorium on nuclear power plant construction until the nuclear waste disposal problem is solved, and public safety and security issues are resolved.
• All discussions on costs of new nuclear power plants include full disclosure of total life cycle costs, including the cost of nuclear waste disposal and decommissioning of nuclear sites.
• That the public be involved in discussions and receive information on health and safety consequences, economic effects, environmental assessments and security risks regarding the development of energy projects, including nuclear ones.
• An end to the transnational transportation of nuclear waste, including spent nuclear fuel.
• An end to state subsidies of the nuclear industry and a redirection of those resources to renewable and energy efficiency programs.
In addition, representatives from ERC Bellona (Alexander Nikitin, Grigory Pasko, and Rashid Alimov) played an active role in drafting a public position on energy politics at the Citizens’ G8, which took place on the eve of the G8 Summit in Moscow. They likewise participated in an international conference in Kiev, “Chernobyl +20”.
By our own evaluation, these activities, which were guided by the Russian public and international organizations, exercised influence on the content of the decisions reached at the G-8 summit. In the final documents of the G8 Summit, the basic focus was more on the development of alternative energy sources and energy conserving technology, instead of the development of atomic energy.
In October 2006, the Center in cooperation with the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the NGO Eco-Defense convened a round table meeting to discuss the transportation of nuclear and radioactive materials through the St. Petersburg region. The event was attended by deputies from the St. Petersburg legislative assembly, the office of the public prosecutor and representatives of Rosatom.
International Cooperation
In the spring of 2006, a meeting of Russian NGOs was held in the European Commission on Energy and Transportation, at which the problems of energy and the position of the EU vis-à-vis Russian energy initiatives were discussed. In the fall of 2006, the Center in cooperation with Bellona Oslo and Bellona-Murmansk conducted a hearing in the European Union Parliament regarding the issue of Resource Extension among Russian Nuclear Power Plants.
2.2. Legal direction
In January 2006, as part of the new course for its legal department, ERC Bellona launched a pilot project – pro bono legal consultation. This has now become the main part of the “Rights Protection Practice” project. This project is designed to provide free legal support to support environmental rights of organizations and citizens.
The purpose of the project is to educate people about their human right to a healthy environment, provide legal assistance in environmental matters, help people defend their rights in courts and improve Russian legislation in this sphere.
Pro Bono – this is the first stage of the project, where attorneys provide primary legal aid to the population and compose appeals to administrative organs, courts and the office of the attorney general. In the course of 2006, 211 citizens and organizations applied to for legal aid and approximately 100 documents were prepared for the courts, the office of the attorney general and the administrative bodies at different levels of government.
The basic issues and grievances of the citizen appeals were as follows:
• violation of sanitation-epidemiological laws (pollution of the air; dumping of garbage and waste in gardens; untimely disposal of garbage and waste; exceeding norms pertaining to the allowable levels of noise, vibration and electromagnetic radiation; failure to comply with and the violation of sanitation rules and norms; not only on the part of the government and agricultural entities, but of individual citizens as well);
• violations of municipal construction laws (overly dense development, construction of parking lots in front of or under the windows of residential buildings, receipt of permits without prior environmental expert evaluation, citizens residing in sanitation protection zones);
• violation of the right of citizens to information (failure to provide information requested by citizens, holding briefings on municipal construction activities as well as public hearings that are either deliberately misleading or conducted in a way that fails to comply with the spirit and letter of relevant laws);
• violation of environmental protection laws (clear-cutting of vegetation, logging of forests in the Leningrad Region, pollution of protected aquatic zones);
• violation of the rights of environmental activists to picket, stage rallies and assemble.
In 2006, the attorneys provided court accompaniment and support in cases connected with citizens’ exposure to nuclear radiation as a result of the accident in the nuclear-powered submarine in Chazhma Bay (Russian Far East). In addition, the attorneys provided legal aid to people who had worked at the nuclear weapons testing site on Novaya Zemlya island.
The Center’s attorneys conducted an analysis of legislation concerning the environment and published their comments in ERC Bellona’s Ecology and Rights magazine and on the Bellona web site.
The pro bono provided legal aid to citizens’ initiative groups such as Preserve ‘Yuntolovo’, Defenders of Vasilievsky Island and others, in regard to the construction of the circle highway, the Western High-speed Diameter and the Orlovski Tunnel.
For the duration of the entire report period, one of the Center’s attorneys closely monitored the legal accuracy of informational articles posted on the site and in Ecology and Rights, preparing 49 commentary pieces for the magazine.
2.3. Informational direction
These are three projects within the information sphere.
Bellona.Ru and Bellona.org web sites
The web site of the organization has been developing for over 5 years. It was registered in 2005 as the online periodical and electronic mass media site «Bellona.Ru». In 2006 164 analyses and approximately 400 news articles were published. These web site publications were authored exclusively by correspondents and organization employees. The site was re-launched in its new design on June 16th, the day of Bellona's 20th anniversary. The Bellona portal is visited by 8000 people every day – 15 percent of which reside in Russia.
Magazine “Environment & Rights”
The magazine “Environment and Rights” has been published since 2002 and has received several awards in the field of environmental journalism. The magazine strives to expand ties and cooperation between environmental and human rights NGOs in Russia. The information published in the magazine encourages people to learn how to use legal means to defend their environmental rights. It is devoted to matters of environmental management and human rights, such as the right to receive information, to participate in the decision-making process and to ensure freedom of association.
In 2006, three hard copy issues of the magazine were published (№№22, 23, 24). The electronic version of the magazine can be found at http://www.bellona.ru. In 2006, 155 articles were published on the magazine’s website. Aside from that, articles in the form of detailed summaries were sent electronically to environmental and human rights mailing lists every week.
The site’s counter indicates that hits on the magazine’s website have risen to up to 4000 a month. The paper form of the magazine is sent out to more than 500 addresses. Another 500 issues of the magazine are spread by subscription, at conferences and other meetings.
Environmental journalism school
In April, a two-week seminar course for environmental journalists was held for three students from Kazakhstan and Kyrgystan who won a competition among environmental journalists from the Central Asian republics.
The aims of the project were:
• To acquaint these journalists with environmental and human rights movement in St. Petersburg;
• To give them skills to highlight environmental problems in printed, electronic mass media and TV:
• To educate journalists about environmental problems.
Experts and NGO leaders instructed the students about environmental problems, the activities of environmental NGOs and efforts to create the Green Party of Russia as well as about the ways of lobbying for an environmentally friendly resolution to social problems. The aim was to make students aware of reliable sources of information and how to obtain and verify them.
The course consisted of several units of study:
International cooperation on transnational environmental problems
Ecology and politics
Environmental safety and health
Alternative energy
Biodiversity
The result of the course was a film about environmental problems in St. Petersburg made by the students themselves.
In September, a new session at the School of Environmental Journalists began. Twenty upper class students from the journalism and public relations departments of three universities enrolled in the school’s program. Four seminars were conducted along with workshops on environmental journalism. The latest session ended in February 2006.
3. Participation in conferences
The first half of 2006 was marked by a large number of activities and events organized for representatives of the third sector. Most of them were devoted to the Chernobyl anniversary and recommendations to the leaders of the G8 countries. ERC Bellona took part in 58 conferences and meetings and participated in the organization of some of them.
International conferences:
January 29, St. Petersburg – Russian-British conference “Kyoto Protocols: Economy Aspects”
March 3-5, Moscow – “Citizens’ G8 – 2006” forum
March 23 – International environmental forum “The Baltic Sea Day”
March 11-13 – VI international forum “Fuel energy complex of Russia”
April 22-25 – International conference “Chernobyl+20 – A Reminder for the Future”
October 24 – Forum NGO of Baltic See
September5-7 – Forum EU-Russia
Development of the Organization’s Resources:
In 2006, the Center achieved its goal of acquiring and equipping a private office. The new office opened on October 20th 2006. The Center currently possesses its own office, which is equipped with Internet, landlines and organizational technology that provides for the execution of its projects. Bellona has become widely known in Russia and abroad as an expert organization in the realm of energy issues, as well as an expert warehouse of legal and informational resources.
The activities of ERC Bellona were mentioned more then one hundred times in the mass media in the first half of 2006.
During the period covered by this report, 16 people were working in the organization, seven of them full-time. Five volunteers from Germany and the United States have worked for the organization over a period of six months.
The organization’s activities were supported by the following foundations and organizations: The Bellona Foundation, the Charles S. Mott Foundation, the National Endowment for Democracy, the Regional Center PROON in Europe and NIS, the Gagarin Fund/ Tides Foundation. The organization also provided paid services.
Chairman
Alexander Nikitin
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