On October 2 as part of the educational project “EYA Lecture Hall” (EYA – Eurasian Youth Assembly) an online meeting was held. Representatives of public organizations and Youth Envoys of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Russia took part in it.
The theme of “UN SDGs in the Eurasian space”, key topics in the field of sustainable development, environmental and social initiatives of young people were touched upon during the discussion.
Ekaterina Petrunina, project manager of the “Lake Baikal” Foundation for applied environmental research and development, founder of the GREEN GAUGN environmental student community, spoke about SDG 6 “Ensuring the availability and rational use of water resources and sanitation for all”: “If we talk about Russia, international cooperation on trans boundary waters includes bilateral agreements with Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, Ukraine, and Finland. At the same time, 81.5 per cent of the population has access to drinking water, while 12.3 million people live without water supply.” State monitoring, prohibition of deforestation and ploughing of land to the water's edge, reduction to a minimum of specific water consumption in production and housing, prohibition of drainage of upper swamps, as well as other measures will allow to achieve more efficient use of water resources.
According to experts, today thanks to the joint work of civil society and businesses, an increasing number of projects in the field of efficient use of water resources and in ensuring sustainable patterns of consumption and production patterns (SDG 12) can be realized. Special mention should be made of such initiatives as separate collection and recycling of waste, the creation of sharing services in the field of transport, food, means of production, clothing, children's toys, as well as the launch of stores operating on the principle of “zero waste”.
The future of Eurasia is in the hands of young people, and today the younger generation of Eurasia is ready to take responsibility for preserving the environment. Young leaders of Russia, youth envoy of SDG 2 “Ending Hunger” Nikita Rossov and youth envoy of SDG 8 “Decent work and economic growth” Veronika Yakovleva, spoke about the implementation of youth projects in the field of sustainable development in the Eurasian space.
The 2030 agenda for sustainable development, adopted by UN members on September 25, 2015, includes 17 SDGs and 169 targets. In order to raise awareness of the global challenges facing every nation on the planet, youth programs have been created in a number of countries around the world. Thus, the National Council of Youth and Children's Associations of Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry, the UN Information Centre in Moscow and MGIMO support the annual selection of 17 youth envoys from among young people and representatives of civil society who have achieved success in one of the SDGs.