Major Western media outlets have published two articles in the past week dedicated to Arctic cooperation between Russia and the West following the tightening of sanctions. The British newspaper Financial Times and the American newspaper The New York Times, citing high-ranking NATO representatives, stated that Russia is "hiding some important information that is necessary for [climate] reporting."
Also, in an interview with the Financial Times, an unnamed high-ranking NATO representative noted that Moscow is allegedly conducting a large-scale disinformation campaign against the benefits of decarbonization, as it is a major exporter of oil and gas. At the same time, a new climate doctrine of Russia, signed by President Vladimir Putin, has been in effect in Russia since October 2023 — on the contrary, it involves combating climate change and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
The New York Times article notes the perspective on the situation not only of NATO, but also of European scientists. They say that after the sanctions, cooperation with Russia became minimal, and now they have to rely in their calculations only on data from American scientific stations. As Italian scientist Alessandro Longi, who studies permafrost, noted, "it is impossible to understand how the Arctic is changing without Russia." The lack of complete climate data on the Arctic leaves governments of different countries without a clear understanding of how quickly the Earth is warming, and what the rate of global warming actually is.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on both publications to TASS news agency.
The statements of NATO, disseminated by some foreign media, about Russia's alleged "concealment" of information on the climate in the Arctic are absurd and completely unfounded. As is known, it was the Western Arctic countries that began to create obstacles to international cooperation in the Arctic with the participation of Russia from the spring of 2022.
According to her, NATO's interest in Russian climate data in the Arctic is "strange and unnatural."
Obviously, we are talking about NATO's desire to strengthen its position in the Arctic, which leads to increased tension and confrontation in the region. In turn, Russia invariably strives to maintain peace and stability in the North, increase environmental sustainability, and ensure favorable external conditions for the comprehensive socio-economic development of the region, including in the interests of protecting the rights of indigenous peoples.
She recalled that Russia continues to work as part of the Arctic Council and its working groups, but the activities of the Arctic Council "are still limited, it is premature to talk about the full normalization of its work."
The Arctic Council, which Zakharova is talking about, is an intergovernmental organization of Arctic states, which includes Denmark (together with Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Iceland, Canada, Norway, Russia, the USA, Finland and Sweden. In March 2022, its work was suspended, in 2023 it was resumed at the level of letters, and in the spring and summer of 2024 the first video meetings were held with the participation of Russia. The Arctic Council deals with important issues related to this region: from Arctic pollution and the conservation of Arctic flora and fauna to preparedness for major emergencies.
As for climate statistics for the Arctic within the framework of the International Network for Terrestrial Research and Monitoring in the Arctic (INTERACT) project, there are 21 stations on Russian territory out of 95 stations of the project. The remaining stations are located in Northern Europe, the USA, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Scotland and the Northern Alps. Russian INTERACT stations have been put on pause, and they do not submit data.
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