Committee on Russia’s Chairmanship in the Arctic Council Set to Work

The President of the Russian Federation has signed a decree to establish the Committee on Russia’s Chairmanship in the Arctic Council in 2021–2023. 

The Arctic Council is the leading intergovernmental platform to promote cooperation, coordination, and communication among Arctic states, indigenous peoples and residents of the Arctic zone. It aims to find coordinated approaches to resolving Arctic-related matters, which include sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic. 

Yury Trutnev, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, is appointed the Chairman of the Organizing Committee. 

The Organizing Committee will function in accordance with the action plan adopted to support Russia’s chairmanship in the Arctic Council in 2021–2023. This plan will ensure achieving Russia’s strategic goals on economic and social development of the Arctic and improving the country’s global image.     

“The Arctic’s sustainable development is among Russia’s top priorities for the years of chairmanship in the Arctic Council,” noted Anton Kobyakov, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation. 

The focus areas of Russia’s chairmanship in the Arctic Council will include the status of indigenous peoples, preserving the Arctic’s ecosystem and biodiversity, developing tourism, and attracting investment.

Alongside its chairmanship in the Arctic Council, Russia will lead the Council’s Sustainable Development Working Group, Expert Group on Black Carbon and Methane, Arctic Shipping Best Practice Information Forum, the Arctic Spatial Data Infrastructure project, the Arctic Council Project Support Instrument Executive Committee, as well as the Arctic Economic Council and the Arctic Coast Guard Forum.