General assessment of the environmental status and environmental risks in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation

Abstract

The article presents an assessment of the current ecological status of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation as a promising area of active industrial development. Acknowledging the current negative environmental consequences of human activities in the Arctic, the authors raise the issue of environmental risks in the Arctic region, which inevitably arise due to the intensification of resource extraction in these areas. From the standpoint of a risk-based approach, the authors insist on the need to take into account the environmental safety requirements in the Arctic region when conducting any kind of business and other activities, taking into account the particular vulnerability of the Arctic ecosystems and the climate-forming significance of this region for the entire planet. In their opinion, at present, the problem of environmental safety in the Russian Arctic is aggravated by several unfavorable factors: environmental damage accumulated over a long period of previous economic and military activities; the lack of the necessary legal framework to regulate resource extraction activities in the region, taking into account new environmental requirements; Russia’s lack of the latest eco-friendly technologies for offshore hydrocarbon production. Each of these factors is capable of provoking irreversible environmental consequences, and, accordingly, each of them should be subjected to in-depth scientific evaluation in the framework of strategic and project-economic planning.