KHABAROVSK, July 18 (Itar-Tass) — Caring for the environment and environmental security is the most important precondition for developing APEC economies, ministers responsible for environment said in their joint statement adopted after their meeting in Khabarovsk on Wednesday.
The meeting took place in the run-up to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit due in Vladivostok in September.
“All member-states of APEC supported five concrete directions of international cooperation proposed by Russia. We’ve drawn up the guidelines to resolve problems that require all countries’ efforts,” Natural Resources and Environment Minister Sergei Donskoy told a news conference on Wednesday.
“These problems include biodiversity preservation, rational use of natural resources, streamflows in trans-border regions and stable management of water resources, measures to fight trans-border pollution of environment and to alleviate consequences of climate change, and the support for the green growth,” he said.
He emphasized that the joint statement “demonstrates common position of APEC member-states, a special focus given to environmental protection and improvement of the environmental situation in the Asia-Pacific Region.”
Russia “is building the high-tech knowledge economy, and careful attitude towards nature against the backdrop of stronger athropogenic influence becomes an obligatory factor for the implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects,” Donskoy said.
All delegates share their common view that caring for the environment and environmental security “is the most important precondition for developing APEC economies and plan to take further efforts to resolve environmental problems,” the Russian minister said.
The meeting brought together delegates from Indonesia, Canada, China, South Korea, Malaysia, the United States, Japan and others.