Environment and pollution in Russia and Central Asia: the Soviet legacy

The environmental balance of the Soviet Union developed from the late 1980s through the policy of "glasnost" (openness) launched by President Mikhail Gorbachev was described by many experts as "ecological disaster".According to the American environmental NGO, Blacksmith Institute, five of the ten most polluted places in the world are located in Russia and Central Asia.The demographic and health crisis that marked the last years of the empire, and which has lasted, can be attributed to a not negligible, as assessed by some studies 30%, the degradation of the environment: 75% water polluted surface, 70 million of the 190 million Soviet citizens suffering from respiratory diseases due to air pollution in cities, reduction in life expectancy ...

But the breakup of the Soviet Union into fifteen independent countries in 1991, has allowed Russia to escape in part to its responsibilities, since some of the most devastated are now located outside the Russian borders. To mention just some of the most iconic, Chernobyl is in Ukraine while the Aral Sea and the Semipalatinsk nuclear polygon are in Central Asia. The latter region was probably one of the main victims of the Soviet policy of intensive industrialization and the arms race that accompanied the Cold War. The presence of desert expanses and the wealth of its subsoil have designated for the manufacture and storage of hazardous materials and for testing of nuclear, chemical and bacteriological. As the huge Russia itself, which represents 12% of the landmass, it has not been spared because estimated 40% of its territory to be moderately or seriously polluted.

How to explain what some experts have not hesitated to qualify d' "écocide" ? of "ecocide"?

It appears that the Marxist-Leninist ideology has played a role. Indeed, according to Marxist theory, only the work creates value and natural resources are not created as free labor input. Hence the concept of domination of nature by man and the productivist voluntarism that followed. Moreover, the prevailing idea that the natural resources of this huge country were inexhaustible, and that nature would have the capacity to absorb pollution and regenerate it. Both ministries that companies were judged on quantitative criteria and had no interest in worrying about the environmental damage they could cause. Especially since the penalties were trivial and rarely enforced. Finally, the sharp decline of GDP - an average of over 50% - and the disruption of the economy following the breakup of the Soviet empire have pushed environmental concerns to the background compared to the struggle for survival organizations and individuals.

Courrier des Pays de l'Est No 1057