Putin on Permafrost: "Nothing Is Permanent"

Russian President Vladimir Putin at the plenary session of the eighth Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit in Moscow. Source: Yury Kochetkov / GECF Summit Photo Host Agency

Moscow hosted the eighth summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday, October 27. The gathering at Moscow’s World Trade Center coincided with the forum’s 25th anniversary and focused on natural gas’s role in global energy security, market stability, and international cooperation.

The organization traces its roots to its first ministerial meeting, held in Tehran in 2001, and today comprises 12 member states: Russia, Iran, Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela, with eight more countries participating as observers. According to Putin, GECF member states control about 70% of the world’s natural gas reserves and account for roughly 40% of global exports.

The summit followed a GECF ministerial meeting in Moscow on Monday and ended with the adoption of the Moscow Declaration, in which member countries pledged to create mechanisms for responding to crises in the gas market and to strengthen cooperation on uninterrupted supplies and the protection of critical infrastructure. The declaration also voiced concern over geopolitical developments, particularly in the Middle East, and their impact on energy supplies and investment. On the sidelines, Putin was scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Mozambican President Daniel Chapo, Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, and Libyan Presidential Council Chairman Mohamed al-Menfi.

During his address, Putin also touched on climate change, saying Russia feels its effects perhaps more acutely than any other country, TASS reports.

“As for climate change, Russia is feeling it firsthand, perhaps more than anyone, because global warming is progressing fastest in the north, in the Arctic. Seventy percent of Russia’s territory is, of course, not in the Arctic itself, but it is northern,” Putin said.

He went on to point out that much of that northern land lies on permafrost, which, its name notwithstanding, is not as permanent as it seems.

“And part of these territories, and they are vast territories, lie in the so-called permafrost zone. But, as we know, nothing is permanent. We are now seeing this permafrost thaw, and it is having serious consequences for a whole number of Russian regions. So we are ready to pool all our efforts to respond to these challenges accordingly.”