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Strategic Analysis of the Environmental Challenges for Northwest Russia 1. IntroductionGeographic focus The geographic focus of this report is Northwest Russia and more specifically the Baltic Sea catchment area comprising the city of St. Petersburg, and the Oblasts of Leningrad, Pskov, Novgorod, and Kaliningrad. Main geographic focus of this report Sector Focus The main emphasis is on analysing the local, regional and transbound-ary environmental problems and challenges that have direct impact on the population in Northwest Russia and on the Baltic Sea environment, i.e. water quality and waste management. Also energy is being included as air pollution is transboundary in nature and often ends up in water bodies. Furthermore, disposal of side products from energy production represents an environmental problem, which has significant impact on the water quality. The report has been prepared by COWI AS, an independent Danish consulting company, having more than ten years of experience from working with environmental problems in Northwest Russia. The report is a desk study and data have been collected from the extensive literature, which exists on this subject. Data were extracted from reports and material published by convention secretariats, international research institutes, Danish Environmental Protection Agency, international donors, NGOs, official Russian statistics etc. Furthermore, material published on the homepages of various Russian ministries is included in the analysis. The report provides the reader with an overview of some of the key environmental challenges Northwest Russia faces today and needs to address to avoid significant negative consequences on:
The contents of this report have been requested by the Russian environmental authorities in the co-operation with the Danish Ministry of the Environment as a rounding-off of the Danish-Russian efforts. The purpose of the report is to illustrate the status of the environment and indicate possible solutions to the problems.
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