Pollution is easily transported through the air, seas, food and other materials. Increasingly, trans-border environmental and health hazards require an interplay of international treaties, environmental research work and national regulations. The global economy puts traditional economic and ecological systems at risk of being absorbed by technologies which local people cannot master within their communities. Global ecological problems Throughout the world environmental problems continue to destroy the living conditions of humans and animals. The biological diversity is weakened, the oceans and the atmosphere are being polluted and a significant amount of the world's population is living in poverty.
Environmental refugees are today a large and increasing problem.
If the worst scenarios concerning the greenhouse effect are realised, these problems and related conflicts could develop into a series of catastrophes. The Bellona Foundation wants to reduce human created threats to the global ecological system so that the earth's environment is not negatively affected in a long-term perspective. The programme's main task is to monitor the global environmental situation and collect data to evaluate and rank these problems to find suitable solutions. The involvement in Russia has a special position in the Bellona Foundation's work. Through this activity Bellona made itself an international name.