Bellona organizes a side event to discuss narratives about the economic development of the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route created by the Russian state media and how they can manipulate public opinion, influence political processes, and as a result have a damaging effect on the environment in the Arctic.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine damages human lives and the environment not only on the ground by direct military attacks, but also through a mass flood of lies and false narratives into the digital world. Often overlooked, however, is that online debates about the Arctic are also infected by Russian propaganda.

Our panel will show examples of how false narratives about the effectiveness, safety and environmental sustainability of the Northern Sea Route have been pushed to the international media sphere by Russian state actors, why they are false and how this information distortion can damage the environment and climate in the Arctic. The panel discussion will address questions on how to confront disinformation and limit its influence on the environmental and climate policy in the region.

Speakers:

• Benjamin Shultz, Lead Researcher, American Sunlight Project
• Ksenia Vakhrusheva, Project manager and Arctic project advisor, Bellona Environmental Transparency Center
• Sian Prior, Lead Adviser, Clean Arctic Alliance
• Thomas Nilsen, Editor, The Barents Observer
• Yury Sergeev, Arctic project advisor, Bellona Environmental Transparency Center

Contact: etc@bellona.org