Representatives of 10 Countries to Attend 4th Northern Sustainable Development Forum in Yakutsk

Yakutsk will host the 4th Northern Sustainable Development Forum from 28 November to 1 December. The forum participants will discuss demand for various types of energy in the Arctic, how to improve people’s staying power in the region, as well as how to attract young people to the northern territories. The forum will be held as part of the plan of events of Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2021–2023, which are managed by the Roscongress Foundation.

“The chairmanship programme will reveal new prospects for promoting projects initiated by [the Republic of Yakutia]. All the problems and possible solutions that will be raised at the Northern Sustainable Development Forum this year will definitely be on the international agenda. Fundamental decisions will be taken both in scientific and practical terms,” Head of the Republic of Yautia Aysen Nikolayev said.

The main events will be held under the theme ‘Arctic Energy: New Challenges – New Solutions and Technologies’. The forum will be attended by representatives of 10 countries, primarily from countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The event will include a plenary session and a special block devoted to ways to improve energy.

“We see how the Arctic’s role is growing in the context of the global energy transition. This concerns the supply of metals, rare earth elements, LNG, and natural gas, which is so crucial for the production of green fuels, as well as efficient transport solutions for shipping that will help reduce the global man-made burden,” Chair of the Senior Arctic Officials and Ambassador-at-Large for Arctic Cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nikolay Korchunov said.

In addition, the forum participants will take part in conferences and lectures to discuss partnerships for the sustainable development of the North and the Arctic, how to find a balance between the environment and investments in the development of tourism, the digitalization of the cultural and linguistic heritage of the peoples of the Arctic, the modernization of Arctic transport corridors, and other issues.

“The Northern Sustainable Development Forum is gaining momentum and becoming a meaningful platform for the discussion of numerous issues concerning the development of the Arctic and the North, and numerous for the development of large territories as a whole. The forum helps to find effective practices for people’s well-being in extreme conditions,” Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University Rector Anatoly Nikolayev said.

“The rapid development of the Arctic transport system is essential to the sustainable development of the economy of the Russian Arctic. This system needs to provide reliable transport links and normal living conditions in Russia’s northern territories, not only for the accelerated development of mineral deposits, but also for a breakthrough in the level of support for the constitutional rights of Indigenous and Small-Numbered Peoples in hard-to-reach and small settlements to transport accessibility, not only for aviation, but wheeled transport as well,” the forum organizers said.

The forum is being organized by the Government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Northern Forum International Organization of the Northern Regions, and Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, which initiated the forum.

The Northern Sustainable Development Forum has been held in Yakutia since 2019. In 2021, the forum featured a discussion about climate change and permafrost degradation. In particular, the forum participants attracted the international community’s attention to the need to draft uniform requirements for the conservation of Arctic ecosystems and the preparation of the International Environmental Memorandum of the Arctic Zone.

During of the Eastern Economic Forum 2022, the Roscongress Foundation and the Association for the Promotion of the Development of Northern Territories ‘Northern Forum Academy’ – the Secretariat of the Northern Forum International Organization of the Northern Regions – signed a cooperation agreement. The organizations will provide mutual consulting as well as information and expert support and organize joint bilateral and multilateral convention and exhibition events, in particular, forums, conferences, roundtables, business meetings, fairs, and presentations. In addition, the parties agreed to conduct advertising and information campaigns to promote their specialized events. The agreement also calls for joint work in the Russian and global information space to strengthen the organizations’ positive reputation.

Russia is chairing the Arctic Council in 2021–2023. A cross-cutting priority of the chairmanship is to ensure responsible governance over the sustainable development of the Arctic. Based on its respect for international law, Russia intends to promote collective approaches to the development of the Arctic with a social, economic, and environmental balance.