The Environmental Load Reducing as a Factor of Improving the Quality of Life of the Coal Mining Region Population

Abstract

The need to reduce the environmental load as the most important factor of improving the quality of life of the population and preventing the outflow of human resources from the coal mining region is substantiated in the article. The study allowed identifying a number of socio-economic threats associated with the influence of high environmental load in coal mining regions, namely: the presence of adverse sanitary and hygienic factors affecting the state of health and the quality of life of people; the excess of the average Russian share of jobs with unsatisfactory conditions for ensuring their compliance with sanitary and epidemiological standards and regulations in coal mining regions; increase in the incidence rate. The entire list of identified threats has the most direct impact on the indicators of population growth and migratory movement leading to a lack of human resources in a region. First of all, it is proposed to reduce the environmental load of a mining region through the implementation of a concept aimed at improving the environmental safety of the industry at all stages: from exploratory activities to mine abandonment. And secondly, the environmental load should be reduced on the basis of a set of measures affecting such important areas of regional economic development as diversification of industrial production (increasing the share of industries with lower environmental load on the ecosystem), developing a high-tech business and mainstreaming responsible consumption ideas in the public mind and businesses.