Perm is listed among the top 5 environmentally friendly Russian cities.
The rating is released by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment of the Russian Federation and is based on 7 key criteria. With 94 cities listed in the rating, the top-rated ones are Moscow, Gorno-Altaysk, Krasnodar, Voronezh and Perm.
The assessment was done against the following criteria: air environment, water quality and water consumption, waste management, land use, transport, energy consumption and environmental impact management.
Perm rates high against such criteria as energy and water consumption due to the implementation of energy saving programs supported by large enterprises, housing and utilities management organizations as well as residents of the city.
Apart from this, in 2014 there was a considerable improvement in the Air Pollution Index (API) scores. The recent years have seen the tendency towards the decrease in the level of air pollution. The Air Pollution Index scores for 2000 and 2007 were regarded as “very high”. The scores went down in 2009 and 2013 and reached the lower limit of the “very high” level of pollution. It was for the first time since 1997 that in 2014 the level of air pollution dropped to “higher than normal”.
On a large industrial city scale, the improvement in the API scores results from the implementation of a consistent and well-targeted environmental policy. Large enterprises modernize their facilities to make them meet environmental requirements.
The environmentally-friendly cities' rating is released annually by the subordinate authorities of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment. According to the Ministry, it is the most unbiased and transparent rating of Russian cities’ environmental development.