ST. PETERSBURG, July 24. /TASS/. Russia plans to organize within the current year a national committee to host the 5th International Polar Year, due in 2032-2033. The early preparations for this large-scale international event, which dates back to the 19th century, may be explained by Russia's aspirations to keep the opportunity to set a global agenda within the Polar Year framework and to participate in its concept development, deputy director of the Russian State Hydrometeorological University's representation in Moscow, Anton Vasiliev, told a news conference at TASS.

"By organizing the 5th International Polar Year, we continue the old scientific tradition - the 1st Polar Year took place in 1882-1883. <...> We begin preparations with organizational aspects, with a national committee to prepare the event. We need an interdepartmental plan for our participation, and we need to prepare a serious scientific program. <...> State Commission on the Arctic at the next meeting will address this issue and will draft proposals for the national committee. It's a matter of a few months, we hope to start work this year," he said.

In 2019, scientists at a conference in London voiced the initiative to hold the 5th International Polar Year (the 4th Polar Year took place in 2007-2008), the university representation's Director Andrey Bryksenkov said. Since then, scientific organizations across the world have been holding various events designed to prepare the base for the future Polar Year. Officially, the conceptual preparations in Western countries are to be completed in 2025. In Russia, the University has been assigned to coordinate preparations.

"Clearly, it is impossible to hold the Polar Year separately in the West and separately in Russia. Without Russia, it would be impossible. Therefore, we have prepared a concept note <...>, it has been officially handed over to deputy foreign minister of Norway - that country now chairs the Arctic Council. Next, we plan to seek cooperation with counterparts in the West. We realize that we address problems of the entire Earth and they may be solved only jointly," he said.

In the current conditions, Russian scientists and authorities need to apply every effort to ensure the Russian Federation retains its most important position on the polar agenda and that it defines the agenda's outlook, rather than to be forced to follow preferences of other countries, the University's President Valery Mikheev added. With this in mind, already at the current stage, the country's scientific organizations should begin to develop a large scientific program, and the preparations for the 5th International Polar Year will contribute to development of research in the Russian Federation.

The work to organize the event's national committee has been coordinated with the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and with the Foreign Ministry. Relevant authorities have received the University's invitations to offer issues on the agenda. The Russian side plans to attract CIS and SCO partner countries.

Past Polar Years

The 4th International Polar Year (2007-2008) featured about 60 countries, about 800 projects and research were implemented around the world, where 200 events of the kind were organized in the Russian Arctic, Anton Vasiliev said. Russia's 80 organizations and institutes were involved on the Russian side. The upcoming Polar Year should be much bigger due to the growing interest in the Arctic and Antarctic from non-polar states.

The 1st International Polar Year, designed to unite international efforts in exploration of the Arctic and Antarctic Polar Regions, ran from August 1, 1882, to August 1, 1883. It was attended by scientists from 12 countries who had worked at 15 research stations, including two expeditions to the Antarctica. Further on, International Polar Years took place in 1932-1933 and in 1957-1958.