International monitoring of permafrost: legal basis

Abstract

The international community has taken upon itself the responsibility for the condition of the environment as a human habitat. International conventions draw attention of governments to the pollution and the deterioration of the environment due to economic and other human activities. Particular attention is paid to issues of climate change and sustainable development, emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere are taken under government control. According to research data, at the present stage there is an onset of a thawing process of not just Arctic ice, but also of permafrost. The thawing of permafrost on one hand is a result of climate warming; on the other hand, it will inevitably lead to emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and become a source (cause) of climate change. Permafrost covers the territories of northern parts of America, Europe, Asia, islands of the Arctic Ocean, and the Antarctica. The paper argues for the necessity of research on the thermokarst processes on the basis of international cooperation, the development of an international permafrost monitoring network. Establishing the principles of organization of international cooperation, the funding and the creation of a permafrost monitoring network in international agreements will become another step towards ensuring the environmental security of our planet. Research and reproduction of scientific knowledge were conducted along the spectrum of related fields of international and environmental law and areas of legal regulation, and also at the crossing of law and fields of permafrost studies, geology, ecology, biology, environmental protection.