Topic:
Country: Russian Federation
Delegate Name: Madelyn Sheridan
Maddy Sheridan
Royal Oak High School
UNDP
Delegate from Russia
Wildfires are a serious problem that needs to be fixed. 87 percent of wildfires are caused by humans and nearly all of those can be prevented. Wildfires cause harm to human beings and the environment. Inhaling smoke from wildfires allows smoke particles to get into your lungs which can cause bad respiratory health in the future like respiratory infections and an increased risk of asthma. As for the environment, wildfires release excess greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide which will exacerbate the effects of climate change. When wildfires happen in the arctic Russia will typically just leave them alone unless they pose a threat to human settlements. Climate change has only made wildfires more and more common so to help prevent wildfires we can plant trees that will absorb emissions from fossil fuels. There are bands in place to help prevent forest fires but they are often broken. For example, the ban on burning grass is violated frequently. Russia needs to educate people so they will follow bans and help prevent wildfires in the future. The forest management in Russia needs to be fully updated instead of the “chaotic” amendments that have happened over the past several years. An update to Russia’s forest management hasn’t happened yet because there is not enough state funding and there is a very small interest from the private sector. Educating the public about forest fires as well as a system for monitoring the causes and different types of forest fires would help prevent wildfires. There is no one system for fighting wildfires in Russia and the systems created during soviet times are on the verge of collapse. Russia’s policy of preventing and responding to wildfires is to only respond when they pose a threat to human development and fully remodeling the way Russia manages its forests and monitoring forest fires when they happen and working together with the public have been called for.
