In April 2001, the State Council of  the Republic of Tatarstan  in Russia  voted unanimously to adopt the Earth Charter. During the Hague launch of the  Earth Charter in June 2000, a special envoy of the President of Tatarstan, M.  Shimiev, announced the readiness of the Republic of Tatarstan  to implement the Earth Charter. Thus was born the Earth Charter project  entitled “Tatarstan- a Territory for a Culture of Peace, Sustainable  Development, and Tolerance.”

During the last six months of 2000,  Tatarstan with the help of the International Foundation for the Survival and  Development of Humanity undertook a comprehensive review of the extent to which  its policies and practices conformed to Earth Charter principles and how their  compliance with these principles could be improved. In November 2000, a working  meeting on the verification of the Earth Charter took place at the republican  level. Earth Charter presentations were made to the State Parliament Committee  on Environment in further preparation for the official presentation of the  Earth Charter to the State Council in April 2001. A special workshop was also  held following the endorsement of the Earth Charter. This workshop included the  Tatarstan public, experts, and leaders of state government bodies. Its purpose  was to further consider in detail the whole set of issues regarding the  effective use of the Earth Charter as a guide for sustainable development. In  Tatarstan, the Earth Charter was successful in helping to stimulate and guide  discussion about what kind of future the Republic wanted for itself. The Earth  Charter helped to serve as a framework for a new ideology of increased peace  and sustainability in Tatarstan.

Following  that and through similar processes, the Republic of Kalmykia  endorsed the Earth Charter in October 2002 and the Republic of  Kabardino-Balkaria in April 2003. The purpose is not only to have them endorse  the Earth Charter but go through a process of analyzing and understanding it in  order to use it in policy making. Currently, work is underway to promote the  Earth Charter in 11 regions of the Russian   Federation, that are situated along the Volga  river, where over half of the Russian population lives.

Full Report.