On December 10, activists of the 42 Environmental Movement and the regional branch of Fridays For Future in Arkhangelsk held the My Paris Agreement Campaign. They were photographed with posters "My green spaces", "My zero-waste-style life", "My low-carbon energy" in front of felled trees, a garbage dump, and a CHP plant. Using this photography project, they decided to remind the authorities of the agreement adopted in Paris in December 2015 in order to combat climate change and its dangerous consequences. 189 countries including Russia have joined it.
According to the activists, over the past five years, the authorities have not taken any actions that would help solve environmental issues in the region.
“As we can see, there is neither sustainable transport nor low-carbon energy in Arkhangelsk. Green spaces are actively cut down rather than planted. Waste is accumulated in landfills. At the same time, climate change is quite obvious in our Northern city. Everybody knows about it, but nobody addresses it through the lens of global processes,” Anastasia Kochneva, the coordinator of the 42 Movement, commented on the campaign.
The young woman noted that there was almost no snow in Arkhangelsk in mid-December, the river had not been frozen over yet.
— When I was a child, it was already deep winter. This year, people still picked up girolles in the forest in the Primorsky district in November. This is not typical for our area. Difficulties with ice bridges have become regular. Huge temperature swings, hurricanes, and storms have become more frequent in the region. The village of Pertominsk on the Onega Peninsula is already being washed away to sea," said Anastasia Kochneva.
According to eco-activists, these consequences of climate change affect the region’s social and economic well-being.
“I have almost finished my studies in the past five years. I have traveled all over Russia, got involved in activism and eco-education, and started working. I have begun separating waste and reducing consumption. During this time, the authorities have not become more active. They did not even understand the dangers of the climate crisis. So I decided to respond with an ironic photography project and to demand switching to the „green track“,” said Anastasia Fomina, the author of the photography project.