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Global Pact for Environment raises questions - Russian Foreign Ministry

At the same time, the statement emphasized Russia’s commitment to the implementation of international environmental agreements it took part in

MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/. The Global Pact for the Environment continues to raise questions about ways to harmonize it with the current international rules, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, commenting on Russia’s decision to vote against a resolution to take steps toward establishing the pact.

"The idea to draw up such a pact initially caused serious concern to us and a number of other countries, raising questions about ways to combine the new document with international law," the statement reads. "In this regard, we called for adopting a balanced approach to the process of drawing up the document, refraining from hasty decisions and providing countries with an opportunity to make sure this initiative is feasible. Unfortunately, our concerns were not taken into consideration," the Russian Foreign Ministry added.

At the same time, the statement emphasized Russia’s commitment to the implementation of international environmental agreements it took part in. "We believe that ensuring the timely and effective implementation of goals enshrined in relevant documents to be a top priority," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

France presented the Global Pact for the Environment to the United Nations General Assembly in September 2017. The document calls for protecting nature and preserving it for the future generations.

The Global Pact particularly provides for liability for polluting environment, emphasizes the need to ensure access to necessary information about that and creating conditions for judicial procedures. However, the document does not define any mechanisms to achieve these goals.

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