Problems of ensuring environmental safety in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation

Introduction. The article examines the problems of ensuring environmental safety in the Russian Arctic; analyzes the activities carried out by Russia in this area; provides the main documents adopted by the Russian Federation in the field of environmental protection in the Arctic; proposals are made for the modernization of the state environmental policy in the studied region. Aims. To analyze the measures provided for in the strategic document devoted to the development of the Arctic region of the Russia, and post-facto activities in two areas in the field of ensuring the environmental safety of the Arctic; to identify problems in the implementation of the policy of the Russia in the field of ensuring environmental safety of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. The following methods were used: the systems approach, the generalization method, the comparative analysis. Results. The study carried out a research on the implementation of the provisions provided for in the main document on the development of the Arctic in practice; identified the main problems in the implementation of the state environmental policy of Russia in the Arctic region; recommendations for its improvement are given. Conclusion. A number of documents regulating environmental safety in the Russian Arctic were adopted in Russia. However, most of these documents have declarative, strategic or programmatic character; regulatory legal acts don’t take into account the specifics of the natural and climatic conditions of the Arctic. Adoption of federal law with a limited scope could be the solution to the issue. The problem is non-compliance with the planned deadlines for environmental activities, which is due to the absence of a specialized body with the authority to control for the timely and effective implementation of planned environmental activities.