Member states of BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) are showing interest in cooperation in the Russian Arctic zone.

"More and more countries are showing interest in working in the Arctic region. We are seeing interest from Central Asian countries as well as from BRICS, SCO and other associations," said Nikolai Korchunov, Ambassador-at-Large for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the Senior Arctic Officials’ Committee at the plenary session of the scientific and practical conference on climate change and permafrost melt.

He added that in this regard it would be interesting to launch an initiative involving interaction and cooperation along the existing poles: the Arctic, the Antarctic and high altitude Asia, where large areas of permafrost are concentrated.

"We hope that this initiative will contribute to the understanding of the processes facing our planet's climate system," Korchunov said.

The speaker added that the Arctic agenda is now globalizing: "The Arctic is opening up, but we would like this opening-up to be based on the principles of respecting and preserving the vulnerable Arctic environment, and respecting the peoples who live there, and we would like it to give a boost to sustainable development, built on a concept that would prevent the accumulation of environmental damage."