Sochi 2014 is refuting an AFP article, which says that Greenpeace Russia has filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court because construction of sporting venues and tourist infrastructure could harm rare plants and animals in and around two protected parks.
A press release from Sochi 2014 states that the bid committee is conscious of the environmental sensitivities and are taking comments from the various stakeholder groups very seriously. “We will ensure that all our plans meet and comply with the highest environmental standards of the Olympic and ecological communities in our bid to host the 2014 Olympic Winter Games”.
Sochi 2014 is scheduling a meeting later this month with the principal environmental groups to find a solution that is acceptable to all parties.
The bid group says the Russian Ministry of National Resources works closely with various NGOs and is a key member of the bid’s venue development team, providing expert guidance.
As well, several environmental awareness campaigns are already underway in the region and Sochi is developing a modern waste-processing complex to ensure ecologically sound processing of the city’s solid disposable waste.
According to the release all projects and activities in Sochi’s bid are subject to obligatory environmental impact assessment, in line with the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on Environmental Impact Assessment, and several projects have already received this approval.
Meanwhile a Sochi 2014 spokesman told GamesBids.com that remarks in a newspaper saying that Greenpeace may have been put up to the lawsuit by Sochi’s competition is a view of the newspaper and not the view held by anyone in Sochi 2014. “Sochi 2014 believes that all competitors are behaving honourably and with fair play”, said the spokesman.
