No one can imagine what the permafrost retreat will turn into. The ice is melting rapidly, the Arctic is heating up three times faster, and 40 trillion rubles should be spent to combat global warming. Viacheslav Fetisov, a State Duma Deputy and Chairman of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Nature (VOOP), spoke about this in an interview with 360 at SPIEF.

Permafrost Retreat

Fetisov noted that so far, we have no notion about what the threat of permafrost degradation could be.

‘We have no idea what the consequences of that might be. What kind of bacteria will wake up there. How to deal with it. We have to invest in science to find a way, including in a green economy. The greatest wealth is in what can sustain life on Earth’, stressed the head of the VOOP.

The ice is melting rapidly.

‘The Arctic is warming three times faster today’, Fetisov said.

The Chairman of the VOOP said it would take a huge amount of money to prevent the effects of global warming.

‘Forty trillion should be spent to fix this’, he said.

Fetisov believes that it is time to join forces to take care of nature and ecology. This is a common goal, he stressed.

Nature protection in the Moscow region

Fetisov reminded that the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Nature has existed for almost 100 years.

‘The Society is 98 years old. It was created in 1924. All for the sake of protecting nature and educating people. Today, VOOP can become a platform for discussing various problems’, he said.

He noted that the VOOP has a very strong regional branch in the Moscow region.

‘VOOP asked Governor of Moscow Region Andrey Vorobyov for help to create an office in every municipality. And we can be a good example for other regions here. Having the center in one place does not help to control and interact business, government and society with each other’, Fetisov said.

It is important to solve the problems of ecology, cleaning water ponds and planting forests, stressed Fetisov.

‘It’s we who will live on this land. The future depends on the well-being of ecology, and it will save on health care’, he said.

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