The Accounting Chamber called for improving the efficiency of environmental safety management in the Arctic zone

The preservation of the natural environment of the Arctic zone and the elimination of the environmental consequences of economic activity in the conditions of increasing economic activity in this region are one of the main goals of Russia's state policy in the Arctic.
However, as the analysis conducted by the Accounting Chamber showed, they have not yet been fully achieved.
"The state has been dealing with environmental problems in the Arctic region since 2013, when the Strategy for the Development of the Arctic Zone until 2020 was adopted. We analyzed the results of its implementation and saw that so far none of the activities planned in it can be considered completed in full. Despite some relative decrease in anthropogenic load in the Arctic zone over the past decade, the level of environmental pollution in this region remains elevated, and the rate of formation and disposal of production and consumption waste is not slowing down," Auditor Sergey Mammadov said at a meeting of the Accounting Chamber Board.
According to the website of the control department, in particular, the measures of the 2020 Strategy to create an effective waste management system and improve the system of state environmental monitoring have not been implemented.
"One of the reasons for the failure to implement the measures in the field of state environmental monitoring was that funding for the creation of new and modernization of existing observation posts of Roshydromet was started only from 2021. In addition, a unified state information system for environmental monitoring has not yet been created, which the Accounting Chamber paid attention to even after the 2020 event," the auditor stated.
According to him, the quality of monitoring, on which management decisions depend to minimize environmental risks, does not meet the needs. In this regard, the Accounts Chamber recommends that the Government consider the possibility of organizing interaction between the state observation network and local systems.
The Control Agency also noted that in the field of waste management, a regulatory framework has not been developed that takes into account the peculiarities of the Arctic. And this is one of the reasons that the waste management infrastructure of production and consumption has not been created. The rate of elimination of accumulated damage objects in the Arctic zone is inferior to a similar indicator in the whole country. The analysis also showed that in order to eliminate them within the time frame set by the 2035 Strategy, it is necessary to increase financial support.
According to the estimates of the Accounting Chamber, the cost of eliminating existing landfills in the Arctic exceeds 17 billion rubles. This is comparable to the total amount of funding for the federal project "General Cleaning", which provides for the liquidation of these facilities throughout the country. In this regard, the control department suggested that the government consider the possibility of attracting additional sources of funding."
The Accounts Chamber also pointed out a number of shortcomings in the strategic planning documents in the field of ensuring the environmental safety of the Arctic zone until 2035. First of all, these are unclear formulations of the measures and tasks prescribed in them, as well as non-compliance with the principle of measurability of the goal. For example, the measure "Minimizing emissions into the atmospheric air" does not give an understanding to what level it is necessary to reduce emissions. As a result, there are risks of formal fulfillment of the set goals.
The analysis showed that some of the measures set out in the Arctic Zone Development Strategy until 2035 are not taken into account in the sectoral state programs, which deprives them of the necessary funding.
In addition, the Accounting Chamber drew attention to the absence in the Strategy-2035 of indicators characterizing the results of the implementation of measures in the field of environmental safety of the Arctic zone, which does not allow monitoring its implementation.
"The Arctic is a fragile, vulnerable ecosystem, on the ecological well–being of which the state of the global climate largely depends. Today we are strengthening our environmental work in the region: we are introducing a system for monitoring permafrost, eliminating accumulated environmental damage. In addition, the ice-resistant self-propelled platform "North Pole" will allow for full-scale scientific research, thanks to modern equipment. One of our key tasks is to cover high latitudes with comprehensive environmental monitoring," said Alexander Kozlov, the head of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia.

Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished