The meeting highlighted Russia's activities within the framework of the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP).
Sergei Ivanov gave his guest a detailed overview of the events Russia is planning to conduct during the Year of the Environment. They discussed waste disposal and Arctic clean-up matters, as well as the conservation of the Lake Baikal ecosystem and the creation of new specially protected natural areas.
Mr Pugh noted that Russia's environmental efforts were getting little attention in Western media. With that in mind, he suggested using UNEP opportunities more actively to give the world public objective coverage of the state of affairs in this sphere.