It is impossible to solve environmental problems that have accumulated in the world without achieving the ecological well-being of Russia, and the time has come for the youth of the world to unite their efforts in the fight against climate change. This opinion was expressed by Viacheslav Fetisov, State Duma deputy and Chairman of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Nature, in his speech at the SPIEF 2022.
His speech was made at the round table entitled ‘Sustainable Development as a Unifying Idea for the Youth of the World. The 2050 Agenda,’ during which representatives of the UN and youth NGOs from around the world tried to find common ground on how to address pressing environmental issues. In particular, the Director General of BUSINESS WOMAN AFRICA, Gonaya Monei Sethora, stated that she fully agreed with her Russian colleague that the environmental problems of individual countries cannot be considered outside the global context.
‘The Russian politician is absolutely right. There are no separate problems for each country. There are no individual problems of Ghana or Botswana, no individual problems of Africa: these are all global problems that can only be solved by the efforts of the entire world,’ said Gonaya Monei Sethora.
According to Fetisov, now the ‘Millenium’ generation, which will determine the trends of the world development until 2050, enters an active life, and it is necessary now to work out an agenda for counteracting climate change.
‘You know, I am a two-time Olympic hockey champion in the past, and I had to play on all the continents. Hockey is impossible without ice, and that's probably why I take melting ice so close to my heart, which I have observed in the Arctic and Antarctica. If the Antarctic ice massif melts, it would mean disaster for 80% of the world's population. Danger also threatens from the other side - the world's drinking water supplies are rapidly running out. And in this context the situation in Russia is especially important, on the territory of which more than one third of all drinking water of the planet is located. It is clear that without the ecological well-being of the Russian Federation, as the country with the largest land area in the world, it is impossible to find a solution to the climate problems. Now we are going through a difficult time, but it will pass, and the new generation of young people, including those who are present at this forum, will have to respond to environmental challenges together,’ summarized Viacheslav Fetisov.
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