Environmental Engineering Reference
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strenuously to avoid compromising the integrity of the biotic system. For Verdansky,
the noosphere is a historical process, 'the sphere of reason', or socialized science,
relating to the final evolutionary stages of the biosphere in geological history. He
wrote, 'the biosphere of the 20th Century [sic] is being transformed into the noosphere
which has been created above all by the growth of science, scientific understanding
and the social activities of humankind based on such understanding' (Vernadsky,
quoted in Oldfield and Shaw, 2006: 148). Similarly, the influence of academician
Nikolai Moiseev (1902-52) still has contemporary resonances in some presidential
decrees, particularly in the mid 1990s (Oldfield and Shaw, 2006). For Moriseev, the
transition to the noosphere requires profound shifts in human morals and behaviours,
and the ecological imperative itself requires powerful restrictions on human actions
to be enforced. As the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported following President
Putin's annual report to Parliament in 2011,
'The country needs a decade of sustainable and calm development,' he said.
'Modernization - or in other words, consistent and quality development - is
above all investment in a person, in his or her talents and abilities, in creating
conditions for personal development and initiative, and in a better quality of
life,' Putin said.
The premier said this was the prerequisite for rapid economic growth and
technological breakthroughs.
(Ria Novosti, 24.4.11:
http://en.ria.ru/russia/
For Artour L. Demtchouk (1998) of the Moscow State University, sustainable
development is totally compatible with Russia's traditions and Russian culture,
although he regards the everyday conservatism of the Russia people, which makes
them wary of change and participation in decision-making, a potential problem.
Dialogue requires participation. However, there has been an increase in academic
discussion of and publications on sustainability and sustainable development in
Russia, which has elicited both criticisms that sustainable development will retard
the economic progress of developing nations by restricting further industrialization,
and suspicions that the concept itself is a Western formulation which fails to take
into account the specifics of Russian civilization. Nonetheless, there is still perhaps
a faith in science and in humanity that in the Russian context at least gives con-
temporary significance to Verdansky's views, particularly perhaps when he suggested
that our democratic ideals are in unison with the elemental geological processes,
with the laws of nature, and are answerable to the noosphere. It is possible therefore
to view our future confidently. It is in our hands. We will not let it go.
(Verdansky, quoted in Oldfield and Shaw, 2006: 149)
The last sentence implies hope and optimism rather than scientific or political certainty.
The sceptical environmentalist - Lomborg's challenge
Following on from Verdanksy's optimistic uncertainty but belief in humankind's
ultimate responsibility, as well as Robinson's call for a recognition that sustainability
