Sustainable development is a major challenge of our age. In 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, the concept of global development named “sustainable development”, derived from the Brundtland Report, was officially acknowledged; it can be classified as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations”. In 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals and which implementation should involve not only governments but also transnational companies, charity foundations, community, NGOs and academia worldwide. Essentially, sustainable development implies equilibrium between the economic, environmental and social fields of human activity.            

In 1991, the Governor of the State of Alaska Walter J. Hickel initiated the establishment of the international non-government organization of Northern regions’ governors “The Northern Forum”, whose mission is to improve the quality of life and support sustainable development in the cold-climate regions. Until now, the Northern Forum has been the only international organization of the North and the Arctic aimed to maintain interregional cooperation throughout the circumpolar Arctic and establish the “North-South” dialogue, primarily with the countries of the Asia-Pacific.     

Over its history of almost 30 years, the Northern Forum has implemented numerous projects working for the socio-economic development of the regions and organized hundreds of events. The organization’s General Assembly is held biannually, where the general issues of the regions and business partners’ collaboration are addressed in addition to the organizational ones. Lately, the practice of holding the Northern Forum Governors’ Summit to identify the priority areas of cooperation for the short-term has been introduced. 10 working groups have been set up to launch project activities in the areas of cooperation.    

The Northern Forum is a pro-active participant of the large-scale international platforms established in Iceland, Norway, Finland and the Russian North-West, where the full range of the Arctic development issues is addressed. At the same time, the regional concerns of the northern territories adjacent to the Arctic zone and having all the markings of cold regions are under-covered. The discussion of the Arctic’s North-East sustainable development issues is also quite shallow, which makes it impossible to properly assess the significance and contribution of such a vast territory to the sustainable development of the North in the global context, taking into account that most of the permafrost is located here and all climate changes occurring in this micro-region have global impact.     

At this end, as well as taking into account the need for joining efforts in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the autonomous non-profit organization “The University of the Arctic in Russia” and the Northern Forum’s Working Group on Regional Adaptation to Climate Change have initiated the establishment of The Northern Sustainable Development Forum – a permanent international expert platform in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) under the auspices of the Northern Forum.       

In the future, this Forum will become annual and seeks to become one of the world’s leading platforms for discussing the issues and prospects of sustainable development of the Arctic and the North and implementing relevant projects on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development throughout the circumpolar Arctic and the Extreme North.   

Goal – bring together the most prominent experts of the circumpolar and Asian countries for future project activities. Yakutia can become a bridge joining the Arctic and Asia. The participants of the Forum will represent various fields of expertise: academia, officialdom, community service and business.

For more information see the website: http://nsdf.ru/en/главная-страница/