– We gather, on the one hand, to share our achievements, and on the other hand, our task is to set up continuous interactions between different regional scientific spheres in our country and, of course, to build long-term cooperation within the BRICS, – told Corr. Academician Olga Bakhmet during the conference opening session.
KarRC RAS Acting Director General, RAS Corr. Academician Olga Bakhmet and Deputy Chairman of the Siberian Branch RAS, Academician Nikolai Testoedov
The Head of the Republic of Karelia Artur Parfenchikov emphasized the role of science in the development of the region and the country.
– Science does a lot for the society and the nation. An important thing is that the issues we are discussing today are delegated to regions. We are glad to host such an interesting event in Karelia for the second time. We are uniquely rich in forests, mires, and lakes. 38% of the region's territory is Arctic territory. And we realize that the Northern nature is highly vulnerable. At the same time, the North is rich in resources, this territory is important for the economy of our country and more than that, it's a treasure trove for the whole world. Therefore, parity is essential, so that industrial development and extraction of natural resources are in harmony with the northern nature as much as possible, – remarked the Head of the Republic of Karelia Artur Parfenchikov in his welcome speech.
[i]Head of the Republic of Karelia Artur Parfenchikov
The conference has gathered some 160 offline participants from different regions of Russia and from abroad, including China, Ethiopia, and India. Participants from South Africa, Egypt and Brazil joined online. During the plenary and thematic sessions they will discuss the problems of global and regional climate change, carbon balance monitoring; study of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems under global warming and human impact; topical issues of the designation of protected areas and nature protection; development of industrial ecology and green economy, as well as opportunities for cooperation and expanding interactions.
Deputy Chair of the Board of the Russian National Committee on BRICS Research Georgy Toloraya described the conference held at KarRC RAS as timely and important, since the regional and the environmental dimensions are gaining weight on the international agenda.
– The issues of developing the Arctic and the North are of great importance now within the BRICS cooperation framework. We need to work together and take a reasonable approach to this issue. It is necessary that scientists develop a common opinion and common approaches to these matters in advance at the expert level, – proclaimed Georgy Toloraya.
Conference participants. Photo by Sergey Yudin / Respublika Info Agency
First Deputy Chairman of the Defense and Security Committee of the Federation Council Vladimir Chizhov, in his turn, noted that the special significance of the conference is due to the fact that 2024 is the year of Russia's presidency in the BRICS.
– I consider it very important that the environmental dimension is discussed in Petrozavodsk through the efforts of the Karelian Research Center RAS and the republic's leadership. Karelia with its rich nature is a place where we can talk about wise use of natural resources. This is certainly a matter of importance for the BRICS countries, which are located on different continents and in different climatic zones, – said Vladimir Chizhov in response to journalists’ questions.
On top of the plenary session and the main thematic sessions, the conference includes additional events for representatives of social and political sciences and NGOs, as well as a separate session for young scientists.
The Conference is organized by the Karelian Research Centre RAS in collaboration with the Russian National Committee on BRICS Research under the cooperation agreement between the organizations, and was supported by the RITM Carbon consortium within the Key Innovative Project of National Importance “Unified national system for monitoring climate-active substances”.
