Russia Environment - 2021

Environment - current issues

air pollution from heavy industry, emissions of coal-fired electric plants, and transportation in major cities; industrial, municipal, and agricultural pollution of inland waterways and seacoasts; deforestation; soil erosion; soil contamination from improper application of agricultural chemicals; nuclear waste disposal; scattered areas of sometimes intense radioactive contamination; groundwater contamination from toxic waste; urban solid waste management; abandoned stocks of obsolete pesticides

Environment - international agreements

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic- Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulfur 94

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 13.75 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 1,732.03 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 851.52 megatons (2020 est.)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 17.71 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

industrial: 28.04 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 18.66 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

4,525,445,000,000 cubic meters (2017 est.)

Climate

ranges from steppes in the south through humid continental in much of European Russia; subarctic in Siberia to tundra climate in the polar north; winters vary from cool along Black Sea coast to frigid in Siberia; summers vary from warm in the steppes to cool along Arctic coast

Land use

agricultural land: 13.1% (2018 est.)

arable land: 7.3% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.1% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 5.7% (2018 est.)

forest: 49.4% (2018 est.)

other: 37.5% (2018 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

forest revenues: 0.29% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

coal revenues: 0.53% of GDP (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 74.9% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 0.11% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: intermediate (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea

vectorborne diseases: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, tickborne encephalitis

note: widespread ongoing transmission of a respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is occurring throughout the Russia; as of 19 July 2021, Russia has reported a total of 6,006,536 cases of COVID-19 or 4,115.91 cumulative cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 population with 102.73 cumulative deaths per 100,000 population; as of 19 July 2021, 22.04% of the population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 60 million tons (2012 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 2.7 million tons (2012 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 4.5% (2012 est.)