What is eco-responsibility: an interview with Dmitry Gorshkov, director of the World Wildlife Fund WWF Russia

What professions are trending now, who is to blame for natural disasters, what to do if you want to save the planet — we asked these and other questions to Dmitry Gorshkov, director of the World Wildlife Fund WWF Russia, as part of the podcast “How is it maybe? ‘.

There is an opinion that the pandemic helped our planet cope with all the difficulties that we have accumulated. Is it so?

I think this is a somewhat optimistic view of the situation. And the key word here is forced stop. This is not a systemic decision, but random circumstances. It can be compared with a certain illness: a person decided to lose weight and fell ill, as a result of which the weight decreased, and then recovered and gained everything that he had lost. Similarly, the economy slowed down during the pandemic but then started to catch up. We have heard stories that dolphins have returned, wild boars have begun to come to settlements. It is quite possible that such random changes took place somewhere. They were connected with the fact that the anxiety factor disappeared – people began to appear less in certain places, and animals began to come there.

Isn’t this a problem that solved itself? The issue of improving the environment is now quite acute?

Everyone focused mainly on covid. But just covid has become that SOS signal for humanity. And last year, many countries declared their readiness to become carbon neutral by 2050-2060, thus defining the main trends in the development of the economy in the future. And these trends are clearly related to the preservation of the environment. The current situation with covid is just the wake-up call that nature gave. And some people and countries accepted it. I hope that the further development of mankind will go on, taking into account the interests and nature too.

Our parents used to call it “saving” when they didn’t turn on cold or hot water once again when they turned off the lights behind them. And already among the new generation, this is called “eco-responsibility”. What other promising areas of a responsible attitude towards our nature will appear?

We see that nature is now going through hard times. Already a new generation is thinking about what will happen in the future. But even if today everyone decides to live in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way, then tomorrow the air or water will not become cleaner, climate change will not stop. The process has already started. It will take tens and hundreds of years to return to the indicators that were at the beginning of this century. So everyone should make an effort. Not only environmentalists, not only the so-called “green”, not only the environmental departments of large enterprises. Now it’s everyone’s business. And in order to work as efficiently as possible in this direction, it is necessary to act according to three scenarios. The first scenario is sustainable production: companies must choose the most energy-efficient way of production. The second scenario is sustainable consumption: everyone should monitor their environmental habits, make the right and informed choice of goods and services. And the third scenario is environmental measures, for example, the creation of specially protected natural areas, the protection of rare animal species. These three scenarios are the optimal, effective way to further save our planet.

Which eco-professions will be especially in demand in the future?

Today, ecology has ceased to be some kind of profession, ecology has become everyone’s business. It is not just education, but “over-knowledge” and “over-profession”. We all know how to work on a computer, many know English. Also with ecology, everyone should understand it at least a little, this will help in any profession in the future. But there is a need for a deeper dive into environmental issues.

Now specialists in industrial ecology are in great demand. Many companies want professionals who know how to reduce the environmental impact of their operations. As I said, no matter what area a person works in, he will always succeed in doing something important and useful.

What can each of us start doing now? How can we participate in the conservation of nature?

It is important to include critical thinking. When you buy something in a store, look carefully at what product is on the shelves, where it came from, how it was produced. There are many clues – environmental labels. Knowing certain signs, you can choose the right product. In other cases, you need to think critically. For example, you took a bottle of water that you brought from Lake Baikal. Do you think it’s eco-friendly or non-environmental when a product has come such a long way? And there are many such examples. It is the inclusion of critical thinking that each of us can do.

If we talk about global projects, then it all depends on what you want to do. There are some examples that seem to be environmentally friendly, but do not require serious costs. I really liked one story: 5-8 years ago there was a strong heat in Japan, the Prime Minister allowed all officials not to wear ties and unbutton the top button of their shirts, but on the condition that air conditioners turn on 2 degrees warmer to reduce electricity consumption. This does not lead to any financial costs, but saves energy.

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