The creation of the BRICS scientific center in Svalbard may begin this year, said Denis Moiseev, Deputy Director of the Murmansk Marine Biological Institute for Science.
"We expect that the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation on the establishment of a scientific center will be signed soon. The rollout will begin this year," Moiseev said on the sidelines of the working group on cooperation in oceanic and polar research zones at BRICS.
According to Moiseev, the BRICS research center will closely follow the example of the Norwegian Svalbard International University, which operates in the archipelago.
The creation of a BRICS scientific center in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard remains an urgent issue, confirmed Natalia Golubeva, Deputy Director of the Department for Coordination of Scientific Organizations of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. She said that the idea of creating an international center is being actively discussed, and there is a great interest on the part of the BRICS countries in creating this center.
The expert highly appreciated the importance of the BRICS countries' participation in Arctic research. According to Golubeva, climate change "primarily concerns the polar regions," and therefore it is especially important to "coordinate international activities in both the Arctic and Antarctic regions," b-port.com reports.
Alex Shishlo, Editor in Chief of the European Bureau, Rough&Polished