MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/. Russia’s Chairmanship in Arctic Council - Ecology Agenda for Russia and World international forum will be organized in Moscow on June 25-26. The topics will include the region’s sustainable development, adaptation to the climate changes, preservation the flora and fauna, as well as development of nature reserves, Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources said on its website.

"The forum’s key event will be the plenary session, which will focus on priority tasks in the Arctic’s sustainable development in 2021-2023," the forum organizers told TASS. "The plenary session will feature Minister Alexander Kozlov, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Ambassador-at-Large for International Cooperation in the Arctic, Chairman of the Arctic Council’s Committee of Senior Officials Nikolai Korchunov, Iceland’s Ambassador for Arctic Affairs Einar Gunnarsson, the Russian presidential envoy on climate Ruslan Edelgeriev, the Nobel Prize winner, a UK scientist Terry Callaghan, Head of the International Barents Secretariat Markus Karlsen."

According to the Russian Minister of Natural Resources, the adaptation to the climate changes in the Arctic is a key challenge not only for Russia, but for the entire world. "The ecology in the Arctic, including the climate change, is one of the four priority directions for cooperation with the Arctic Council’s member states in 2021-2023," he said. "That zone’s climate has been changing greatly, and adaptation to those changes is a key challenge for Russia and the world, and thus keeping a favorable ecology situation in the region is, surely, a complicated task, which requires wider scientific studies, including at the international level."

The forum will also feature the Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Roshydromet’s head Igor Shumakov, ambassadors of the Arctic countries, governors of the Russian Arctic regions, representatives of international ecology organizations and the Russian and foreign media.

Sessions on June 25 will be devoted to sustainable exploitation of the Arctic’s marine and coastal systems, international scientific and financial cooperation in design of effective and ecology-friendly methods for development of the region’s resources. Other topics will be nature reserves of the Barents/Euro-Arctic region, preservation the flora and fauna, and the eco system approaches. On the forum’s second day, on June 26, the participants will see a photo exhibition.

The forum, organized in a hybrid format, is supported by the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Foreign Ministry. Online registration is available on the event’s website.

Russia’s chairmanship in the Arctic Council

In May, 2021, Russia took over the two-year chairing role at the Arctic Council from Iceland.

During the chairing term in 2021-2023, Russia will develop cooperation with the participating countries in four priority directions: the Arctic population, including the North’s low-numbered indigenous peoples, protection of the Arctic environment, including the climate changes, socio-economic development of the region, and strengthening of the Arctic Council’s role as the main platform for multilateral cooperation in high latitudes. The plan includes eleven big international events, devoted to the climate changes and to the Arctic’s ecology.

In 1996, the Ottawa Declaration established the Arctic Council - a high-level intergovernmental forum for development of international cooperation in the region, focusing on environmental issues. The Arctic Council’s members are Russia, Denmark, Iceland, Canada, Norway, the US, Finland and Sweden.