Strategic environmental assessment and relations with the

governmentVassily Spiridonov, WWF Russia

Yet now the development of offshore oil and gas and marine transportation of hydrocarbons slowly but possibly

irreversibly change environmental and social situation in the coastal zone of the Russian seas where about 10% of

country’s population is concentrated.

Purpose of this presentation

• Identify major environmental and associated social risks of the offshore/ coastal oil& gas development in the absence of Strategic Environment Assessment

• Discuss relations to the government from the expert community and NGOs perspective

Important to bear in mind• Most of coastal areas of present and

future O&G development have been facing problems of development since their incorporation in the Russian Empire

• Long-lasting search for solutions sometimes led to very peculiar decisions, i.e Sakhalin Katorga

V. Spiridonov

Important to bear in mind also that

• Partial solution was found on the way of using GULAG labor resources, militarisation and subsidies in the Soviet time

• In the 1990s the problem of development of remote coasts came back

V.Mokievsky

«Освоение нефтегазовыхместорождений сахалинскогошельфа на взаимовыгоднойоснове, при соблюденииинтересов сторон, внесеткоренной перелом всоциально-экономическоеразвитие области с учетомрационального использованиябогатых природно-сырьевыхресурсов и значительноповысит ее экономическийпотенциал»

И.П. Фархутдинов, губернатор Сахалина в1997 – 2003 гг.

«Development of the oil and gas resources of the Sakhalin shelf on the basis of mutual benefits and meeting interests of the parties will cardinally force the economic development of the region and will considerably increase its economic potential, providing the use of rich resources is rational”

I.P. Farkhutdinov, the Governor of Sakhalin in 1997 – 2003 гг.

V. Spiridonov WWF

«устойчивое развитие экономики Россиив ближайшие годы должнобазироваться … прежде всего, за счетминерально-ресурсного потенциала»

Путин В.В. 1999. Минерально-сырьевые ресурсы встратегии развития российской экономики.

Записки Горного института, т. 144, с. 3-9

«sustainable development of Russia in the near future should be based …first of all on its mineral resources potential»

Putin V.V. 1999. Mineral – raw material resources in the strategy of the Russian economy development. Memoires of Gornyi (Mining) Institute, v. 144: 3-9

Average annual salmon catch in Sakhalin and Kurils, thousand t (Atlas of

Sakhalin coastal zone, 2002)

0102030405060708090

1945-1955 1956-1965 1966-1975 1976-1985 1986-1995 1996-2001

Two parallel worlds• Scale: Global,

National• Resources: Oil, Gas,

mineral resources, timber, Alaska Pollack

• Perception of environmental problems through the documents (international agreements, national laws, WB& EBRD policies etc)

• Scale: Local, Regional

• Resources: anadromous and coastal fish and seafood, wood from local forest, mushroom, berries, game

• Perceiving only local environmental problems

Were there any ecosystem links in the native savannahs between elephants

and frogs ?

Globalized world (corporations, banks, national governments) Regional world

Experts & NGOs

ProjectsChanging biosphere

?

?

?

?

What is Strategic Environmental Assessment about

WWF Russia and other NGOs monitor several projects on the offshore/ coastal

hydrocarbon development / transportation

• Sakhalin shelf projects• Development and transportation of

hydrocarbons in the Barents and the White Seas

• Proposed projects of pipelines to the Barents Sea and marine petroleum transportation in the White / Barents Sea

• the “East Siberia –Pacific” pipeline• West Kamchatka shelf hydrocarbon

development• Yamal natural gas development

Performance: Sakhalin

Sakhalin Energy

• River-crossing practice showed discordance with both Russian regulation and standards set by the project

• Increasing environmental and social tension in Korsakov district

• Decreasing catches in salmon fishing grounds neighboring to the Prigorodnoeterminal

View on one of about 700 salmon rivers crossed by the Sakhalin 2pipeline

A. Soloviev SEW

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number of vessels

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number of whales St 4number of whales St 3

There are some indications that Piltun-Astokh B platform installation had a disturbance effect on gray whales

WWF field team data, August 2005

Performance: Barents/ White Sea• Osinki oil spill in the Onega Bay, September 2003• Oil spill on Dolgiy Island (Nenetsky Nature Strictly

Protected Reserve), March 2003• 2 cases of engine failure in empty tankers, 2004• 8 oil spills from onshore facilities in 2003-2004• Access to remote wildlife refuges in the Pechora Sea

Concern: Sakhalin (EBRD public consultations, Moscow 14 March 2006 –

River crossing• River crossing in river spawning areas (prohibited by the Russian law)• Time gap between the gas, oil and cable lines up to 1,5 year - triple

impact • Crossing outside the winter period • Intention to develop plans for rivers which are already crossed (and

one even has taimen spawning grounds) • No assessment of constructed bridges (at least US 5 mil losses) • No financial and biological loss assessment of the impact caused

during the last construction season • Usage of the Reno mattresses which contain zinc (heavy metal with

severe impacts on hydrobionts) • Horizontal drilling - storage of the drilling muds and cuttings in the

water protection zone - strictly prohibited • Field planning (development of the river crossing plan upon arrival to

the place)

Concern: Sakhalin – Geological hazards

• Avalanches are not reflected in the materials • Migrating rivers (some rivers change their river beds

regularly up to 0,5 km) • In many places the pipeline goes parallel in only 10-15

meters from the river - will be washed by river in one, two years

• Cutting mudflow slopes with the mud washed into rivers • Cutting steep slopes and formation of a near river basin• Great number of land slides will result in 5-10 meters

layers above the land surface and above the dug pipeline -no chance for oil response

Overall conclusion: the pipeline may be broken in many places. It's just a matter of time and hopefully there won't be oil and gas inside.

Concern: Sakhalin –Marine ecosystems

• Marine mammal plan only for 2005 and whales in Sakhalin only in two months and already in 2006

• Monitoring programme for the AnivaBaywill unlikely detect any changes

• No consideration of invasive species issue

Concern: destination of East Siberia – Pacific pipeline terminal in

Perevoznaya

Oil spill behavior in storm conditions (Moninets, 2005)

Risks:Impacting unique biodiversity, landscape diversity or cultural diversity

elements – loosing natural or cultural capital

• Western Pacific Gray whales – potential Sakhalin’s brand

• Cultural heritage and Ramsar sites of the Bay of Onega

• Amur leopard• Peter the Great Bay

Risks: technogenic catastrophes threatening coastal ecosystems, local

economy, health and lives of local population

• Offshore oil spills• Geological hazards (including thermo-

abrasion of shores in the permafrost areas)

Risks: cumulative impact weakens ecosystem productivity and

services

• Decrease Pacific salmon stocks –especially when interfering with natural decline

• Degradation of recreational resources

• Alien species introductionN.Filatov

Role of the government does not go beyond attempts to modify particular

projects• Shift of leading role in promoting large scale

offshore/ coastal project from regional leaders to federal elite (including state owned corporations)

• Russian government is more and more behaving like a corporation itself

• However in the Sakhalin offshore projects the behavior of the authorities was rather passive and in general view inconsistent

Perevoznaya case – an indicator of changes?

• Chronology of public events - see onwww.wwf.ru

• On 6 February 2006 Mr. Pulikovsky, the newly appointed head of RISTECHNADZOR signed the negative statement of the State Ecological Expert Panel Review

• TRANSNEFT is obliged to consider altrnativesfor the terminal in Perevoznaya

O.Kabalik

Ways forward for SEA of Russia’s Arctic and Far EastCoasts

• Methodology for coastal biodiversity/ resources assessment. We need something more advanced and instrumental than simple expert assessment done previously

• ACBio IASC project

20 High priority1918171615141312111098765432 Low priority

Need for integration

• Multi-scale habitat and ecosystem mapping linked to the assessment of their economical, social and cultural role in local, regional and global scale

What is even more difficult

• The signal has to come through • Policy and legal framework to be developed• Resources