Issues of Arctic Region Development Discussed in St. Petersburg

On 7-8 December, the XIII International Forum “The Arctic: Today and Future” was held in St. Petersburg. The organizers were the Interregional Public Organization “Association of Polar Explorers” with the support and participation of both chambers of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the Government of Russia, the State Commission for Arctic Development, the Ministry of Russia for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic and other relevant ministries and agencies.

The Forum opened with a plenary session entitled “Not the Far North: How Approaches to Development are Changing and What the Arctic is for Russia Today”. More than 400 speakers took part in the two-day business program. More than 50 sessions were held within the framework of 11 thematic areas of the Arctic region development. In total, the forum gathered more than 2000 participants from Russia and other countries.

Secretary of the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Agrarian Policy, Natural Resources and Ecology Natalia Amburtseva took part in the work session “Rebooting the Ecosystem: Elimination of Accumulated Harm and Reclamation of Territories” and told about the IPA CIS Model Law on Elimination of Accumulated Damage, adopted by the Assembly on 27 November, 2020.

In her speech, it was emphasized the expediency of using the provisions and basic concepts of the Model law in relation to the Arctic region. The provisions of the document were included in the final resolution of the forum.

The session discussed issues related to the inventory of accumulated damage in the Arctic, federal and regional projects and legal clarifications for the elimination of accumulated harm, interaction between authorities, businesses and volunteer organizations, as well as projects and technologies for the reclamation of Arctic production sites and ecosystem restoration.