The Environmental Rights Centre (ERC) Bellona, St Petersburg, was established by the Bellona Foundation in Russia in April of 1998.

Our Goals:
• To fight for observance of substantive Russian environmental legislation, thus demonstrating that a rights-based legal system is the chief means to achieve this goal;
• To render legal and informational support to victims of environmental accidents and abuses of environmental law;
• To assist in the development of Russian environmental legislation such that it conforms to international standards;
• To organise activities and seminars to enlighten, inform and educate citizens on issues concerning the environment and environmental rights, thus assisting in the formation of Russian civil society;
• To create conditions in Russia for the establishment of a strong environmental and human rights movement;
• To enable the participation of citizens and NGOs in the decision-making process surrounding environmental issues.

ERC Bellona target groups of support:
The target groups for ERC Bellona are: Russian citizens, environmental and human rights NGOs, local and regional administrative bodies, experts in issues of safe energy, and people who want to breathe fresh air, live on a healthy planet and drink clean water.

ERC Bellona renders support to:
• Organisations and individuals whose rights of access to environmental information and to a healthy environment are abused by government authorities, officials, and/or business structures;
• Organisations and individuals persecuted by state authorities for their environmental activism and who are thus are in need of legal support;
• NGOs and individuals needing independent environmental and legal information.


• More than 500 clients a year seek and receive legal help
• 1,000 copies of our magazine are disseminated quarterly
• Bellona Web portal has more than 7,000 individual visitors per day