Public Environmental Monitoring

General Provisions

Public environmental monitoring is an important tool for the implementation of citizens' rights to a favorable environment and the prevention of violations of environmental legislation. It is carried out by citizens, public associations and non-profit organizations within the framework of their charter activities, and the results of the monitoring must be considered by state authorities and local self-government bodies.

Functionally, public environmental monitoring combines elements of environmental management and a type of environmental monitoring aimed at monitoring compliance with environmental norms, detection of violations and informing government agencies. This contributes to increasing transparency and accountability in environmental protection.

Public oversight enables the involvement of citizens and organizations in the process of protecting natural resources, creating an additional level of supervision over the activities of enterprises and government bodies. It stimulates compliance with environmental requirements and the implementation of measures to reduce negative impact on the environment.

The development of public environmental oversight in Russia faces problems such as low ecological literacy among the population, insufficient readiness citizens to protect their rights, weak organizational structure of public associations, and limited legal knowledge of participants in monitoring. These factors hinder its effectiveness and reach.

Despite these challenges, public environmental monitoring plays a key role in forming a culture of environmental responsibility. Improving the legislative framework, increasing citizens' legal literacy, and supporting public initiatives help enhance the effectiveness of monitoring and contribute to sustainable development and environmental protection.

According to Article 68 of the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection" "Environmental monitoring by the public (public ecological monitoring) is carried out in order to implement the right of each person to a favorable environment and to prevent violations of environmental legislation. Public environmental monitoring is conducted by public organizations and other non-profit organizations in accordance with their charters, as well as by citizens in accordance with the law. The results of public environmental monitoring (public ecological monitoring), presented to the state authorities of the Russian Federation, state authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation, and local self-government bodies, must be subject to mandatory consideration in accordance with the legislation.

According to A.K. Golichenkov, public environmental monitoring is: 1) a function of public environmental management; 2) a type of environmental monitoring; 3) (for the purposes of the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection") environmental monitoring carried out by public associations and other non-profit organizations in accordance with their charters, as well as by citizens in accordance with by legislation in order to realize the right of everyone to a favorable environment and prevent violations of legislation in the field of environmental protection¹.

According to N.V. Kichigin, in the area of environmental protection, public ecological oversight, like in many other areas, unfortunately is underdeveloped. There are several reasons for this: weak ecological awareness among citizens, unwillingness to defend their environmental rights, weak organization, and lack of legal knowledge².