#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. In the coming decades, the Northern Sea Route will become the main stimulating factor for the development of the entire coastal zone of the Russian Arctic. This was discussed by experts at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
According to experts, the tasks set in this area are colossal – by 2035, cargo transportation has to be increased to 220 million tons. Thus, over the next 12 years it is necessary to increase cargo traffic six times, and the current pace of development corresponds to the plan, experts note, the press service of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) reports.
“The Northern Sea Route development dynamics are obvious to everyone: growth over 12 years is 36 times, from 1 million to 36 million tons. Plans have already been invested by companies producing goods that will need to be exported along the NSR – 2 billion tons over the next 12 years. This is a whole layer of the economy that is worth more than 100 trillion rubles in today’s prices, they should provide 20 trillion rubles in tax revenues in Russia”, said Alexey Chekunkov, the Russian Federation minister for the Far East and Arctic development.
Against this background, it is important to make every effort to ensure that people in the Arctic live in decent conditions, in convenient and comfortable cities, and work in this direction is already underway, experts say.
“Increasing the intensity of navigation and creating infrastructure in the Arctic region is impossible without taking into account climate change and close attention to the environmental safety of the work being carried out. New infrastructure in the Arctic will be located in the permafrost zone, and without high-quality forecasts of changes in the permafrost zone in the context of global warming, it is impossible to make plans for decades to come. Also, with the intensification of navigation, it is important to pay close attention to environmental monitoring of the Northern Sea Route waters”, said Alexander Makarov, director of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, during the discussion.
Earlier it became known about the inclusion of small settlements along the Northern Sea Route in the Arctic development plan. Russia has handed over the chairmanship of the Arctic Council to Norway.
Follow us on Telegram, VKontakte.
Text: Denis Kozhevnikov, Photo: author