How will people living in Murmansk (photo) experience the debate on climate change? Photo by Odd Iglebaek
On the state level the problem first started to be seriously addressed by one of the federal bodies – the Federal Service on Hydrometeorology and Monitoring of the Environment (Rosgidromet) of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation.
The Murmansk region as a subject of the Russian Federation naturally participates in the realization of state policy to combat climate change. The Murmansk region as a one of the northernmost regions, and as such highly vulnerable to climate change, was chosen as a venue for the international conference "Adaptation to climate change and its role in ensuring sustainable development of the regions" in May 2008.
The Conference was organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Russian Regional Ecological Centre (RREC) under the auspices of the Federal Service on Hydrometeorology and Monitoring of the Environment, the Administration of the Murmansk region and the Institute of the North Industrial Ecology Problems of the Kola Science Centre (RAS).
At the Conference adaptation policies in the Arctic were discussed and the action plan for adaptation to climate change for the Murmansk region was suggested. Another aim of the conference was to expand the dialogue between the representatives of the Russian authorities, the business community, academic circles and the general public on the issue of climate change.
The results of the conference among other data were used by the Ministry of Natural Resources in 2008 in the elaboration of the "Strategic programme of action on preventing marine environment contamination in the Russian Arctic". In this document the problem of climate change was clearly recognized and the aim of adaptation was forwarded.
The regional government included the climate change theme in the agenda of the Murmansk International Economic Forum held in October 2009. The Forum was an extremely important event for the region, as well as for the Russian North as a whole, and for the Barents Euro-Arctic region (BEAR). Ministers of Foreign Affairs from the BEAR member countries, representatives of the business community, including top people from some of the largest Russian and foreign oil and gas companies taking part in the Stockman deposit development such as Gasprom, Rosneft, StatoilHydro, and Total participated in the Forum.
An expert roundtable discussion on "Complex climate strategies for the sustainable development of Russian Arctic regions under conditions of climate change" was held at the Forum. Here also the UNDP/RREC analytical report on the "Role of complex climate strategies in providing sustainable development in Russia's northern regions - Model example of the Murmansk region" was presented and discussed.
The following questions were discussed: identification of priorities for actions and projects on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation to climate change for the Murmansk region; potential sources of financing for proposed projects; integration of climate strategies into the programmes of socio-economic development for the region and into the programmes for the sectors of the regional economy; the involvement of the regional administration and the business community in climate strategy development and realization; and various public information actions. Proposals for the priority tasks for decision-makers in the Murmansk region were also formulated.
Public discussion on climatic change across the Murmansk region cannot however be viewed as extensive. Such a debate takes place mostly within the confines of the scientific community at various seminars and conferences, and among non-governmental ecological organisations. The theme is also often touched upon in scientific publications, not only in ecological, geographical and biological publications but also in economic ones. For example in 2009 a book entitled, "The effects of possible climate change on the economies of Russian Arctic regions" (Selin V. et al.) was published by the Institute for Economic Studies of KSC RAS.
Regional non-governmental ecological organisations are also quite active and consistent in their activities in respect of climate change. For example, in October 2008 the International Autumn Forum "Climate change: increasing threat to security" organised by the non-commercial partnership Socium+ was held in Murmansk. In addition, a jazz-rock concert, "Global warming" was also organised during the Forum.
For the last four years each February in Apatity City the "Snowmen against global warming" event has been organised by the local non-governmental environmental organisations. In spring 2009 the regional ecological organisation Nature and Youth participated across the region in the 'Earth Hour' event on March 28. On the Global Day of Action Against Climate Change, on October 24, 2009, Nature and Youth also organised a screening of Al Gore's film An inconvenient truth in one of the art-cafes in Murmansk. However large-scale events similar to those that were held that day in many cities across the world were not really witnessed here.
It should however be noted that only a small section of the population of the region has thus far demonstrated an interest in the problem of potential climate change. To a large extent this is undoubtedly due to the fact that information on climate change in Russia remains both limited and contradictory. It is mainly provided by the mass media (which frequently adopts an ironic or apocalyptic approach to covering the theme) often focusing on large-scale cataclysms (typhoons, earthquakes, tsunamis etc).
These natural phenomena have not of course affected the Russian North. As such, it is likely because of this that the majority of the area's population does not seem overly concerned about potential climate change. According to our estimations only about 5% of the population are interested in, or worried about, this problem. More reliable data will be received from a sociological survey conducted on attitudes to climate change which IES KSC RAS plans to undertake in the cities of the Murmansk region in 2010.
In our opinion, in the Murmansk region there remains a serious lack of attention being given to the issue of climate change. This lack of urgency is shared by the state and municipal authorities, the business community and non-governmental organisations.
Currently across the region officials and scientists are planning to investigate the problem and monitoring ongoing changes. But this approach is no longer enough. It is now necessary to forge ahead with consistent practical work at all levels to combat climate change.
By Vladimir S. Selin, PhD (Econ.), Professor, Institute for Economic Studies, Kola Science Centre Russian Academy of Sciences Apatity Murmansk region,
and Riabova Larissa., PhD (Econ.), Docent, Institute for Economic Studies Kola Science Centre Russian Academy of Sciences Apatity Murmansk region.