Environmental conflicts in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation in the field of energy, economic and environmental security

Kudelkin Nikolai PhD in Law Leading Scientific Associate; Department of Environmental, Land and Agrarian Law; Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences 119019, Russia, Moscow, Znamenka str., 10 nkkix@inbox.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction. The Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Russian Arctic) is of great interest for the study of various issues related to legal regulation, ranging from environmental protection ^{[1; 2; 3; 4]} and ending with the problems of economic support for entrepreneurial activity ^[5]. Using the example of the Russian Arctic, it is possible to study environmental conflicts arising in various spheres, including ensuring environmental, energy and economic security. Thus, the State Report "On the State and environmental Protection of the Russian Federation in 2021" emphasizes that the Arctic plays an important role in ensuring the strategic national interests of the country in such areas as economy, transport, environmental protection, defense, and a number of others. The Russian Arctic is characterized by a significant resource potential, which is able to ensure the development of both the Arctic itself and Russia as a whole. At the same time, minerals extracted in the Russian Arctic, as well as their proven reserves and forecast resources, make up the bulk of the mineral resource base of the Russian Federation. In turn, the continental shelf of the seas of the Russian Arctic is called a strategic reserve for strengthening the mineral resource security of the Russian Federation. In addition to large reserves of mineral resources, the Russian Arctic is a habitat for a variety of animals, plants, fungi, many of which are listed in the Red Book (See: On the state and Environmental Protection of the Russian Federation in 2021. State Report. Moscow: Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia; Lomonosov Moscow State University, 2022. pp. 231-239.). The Arctic region also has an impact on the environment far beyond its borders. The literature draws attention to the fact that in the global climate system, the Arctic is a kind of "refrigerator" and a huge storage of ice, which, if it melts, can significantly raise the level of the world ocean ^{[6, p. 8]}, which will cause many problems not only of an environmental but also of a legal nature ^[7]. Thus, many aspects of the national security of the Russian Federation depend on the state of the environment of the Russian Arctic, as well as on the implementation of economic activities on its territory, therefore, the resolution and prevention of environmental conflicts in this region, which, as O.L. Dubovik wrote, are mainly related to the implementation of activities for the extraction of natural resources ^{[8, p. 204]}, is an important and urgent task, including for legal science, since without respect for the balance of interests in the Russian Arctic, both the sustainable development of the Russian Arctic and the preservation of its unique natural environment seem unlikely. As M.M. Mukhlynina correctly notes, in connection with the natural and geopolitical features of the Arctic region, the issues of ensuring environmental safety and law and order in the Russian Arctic are a topical topic, widely discussed both in the media and in the scientific community ^{[9, p. 47]}. At the same time, she attributes environmental safety to one of the factors of socio-economic development of Russia ^{[10, p. 94]}. In turn, S.V. Likhachev and N.S. Raksha rightly believe that without ensuring the protection of priority national interests in the field of national security, Russia's further development is impossible ^[11].

At the same time, the literature emphasizes that current and future security challenges are increasingly caused by environmental degradation and conflicts over access to natural resources, and therefore ensuring environmental safety is recognized as one of the main functions of any modern state ^[12].

The above facts and opinions of scientists confirm the high importance and relevance of the study of issues related to conflicts of interest arising in ensuring environmental, energy and economic security, the resolution and prevention of which fully corresponds to the interests of national security.

Basic concepts. Consideration of issues related to environmental conflicts in the Russian Arctic, it is logical to begin with the study of the conceptual apparatus. One of the fundamental concepts in this area is "national security". According to paragraph 1, paragraph 5 of the National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation, approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 400 of July 2, 2021 (NW RF. 2021. No. 27 (Part II) of Article 5351), (hereinafter referred to as the National Security Strategy), the national security of the Russian Federation means the state of protection of the national interests of the Russian Federation from external and internal threats, which ensure the implementation of constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens, decent quality and standard of living, civil peace and harmony in the country, protection of the sovereignty of the Russian Federation, its independence and state integrity, socio-economic development of the country. In turn, paragraph 26 of the National Security Strategy lists strategic national priorities, among which economic, environmental security and rational use of natural resources are indicated, among other things.

Under economic security according to paragraph 1, paragraph 7 of the Strategy of Economic Security of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030, approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated May 13, 2017 No. 208 (NW RF. 2017. No. 20. St. 2902), (hereinafter referred to as the Economic Security Strategy) refers to the state of protection of the national economy from external and internal threats, which ensures the economic sovereignty of the country, the unity of its economic space, conditions for the implementation of strategic national priorities of the Russian Federation.

Environmental safety is defined in Article 1 of Federal Law No. 7-FZ of January 10, 2002 "On Environmental Protection" (Federal Law of the Russian Federation. 2002. No. 2. Article 133) (hereinafter – the Law on Environmental Protection) as a state of protection of the natural environment and vital human interests from the possible negative impact of economic and other activities, natural and man-made emergencies, and their consequences. At the same time, according to paragraph 1 of the Environmental Safety Strategy of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025, approved by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated April 19, 2017 No. 176 (NW RF. 2017. No. 17. St. 2546), (hereinafter referred to as the Environmental Safety Strategy) environmental safety is an integral part of national security.

In turn, according to subclause a) clause 4 of the Energy Security Doctrine of the Russian Federation, approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 216 of May 13, 2019 (NW RF. 2019. No. 20. St. 2421), (hereinafter referred to as the Energy Security Doctrine) energy security refers to the state of protection of the economy and the population of the country from threats to national security in the energy sector, which ensures compliance with the requirements provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation for fuel and energy supply to consumers, as well as the fulfillment of export contracts and international obligations of the Russian Federation Federation. It should be emphasized here that the National Security Strategy pays quite a lot of attention to energy issues, for example, ensuring the energy security of the Russian Federation, improving the energy efficiency of the economy and the efficiency of public administration in the field of fuel and energy complex are assigned to tasks whose solution is necessary to achieve the goals of ensuring economic security.

If you look carefully at the definitions of various types of security listed above, you can come to the conclusion that all of them are more or less related to the state of the environment, or in many ways, such as energy and economic security, depend on natural resources. Thus, it seems that, on the one hand, environmental protection and sustainable use of natural resources are necessary to ensure various types of security, and on the other hand, ensuring such types of security as economic and energy security can have a strong negative impact on nature, which is the ground for conflicts of interests of various nature.

Further, it seems appropriate to study such a concept as an ecological (ecological-legal) conflict. Since environmental conflicts relate to the legal sphere to one degree or another, it is logical to begin consideration of this issue with the concept of "legal conflict". V.N. Kudryavtsev wrote that a conflict can be considered legal if the dispute in it is somehow related to the legal relations of the parties and, accordingly, the subjects, or the motivation of their behavior, or the object of the conflict has legal characteristics, and the conflict entails legal consequences ^{[13, p. 5-16]}. The most successful definition of an environmental conflict is the definition proposed by O.L. Dubovik, according to which this type of conflict is a confrontation between two or more parties, in which they seek to change the situation in the use of natural resources and impact on the environment, its components and objects in their personal or public (public) interests, resorting to this applies both to legal measures and methods, and to illegal actions (inaction). At the same time, she emphasized that environmental conflicts are of vital importance for humanity and have accompanied it since ancient times and, accordingly, should be the subject of social control ^{[8, pp. 58-59]}. In the context of the problem under consideration, such a pitch of ecological conflict as a law-making one is of particular interest, by which O.L. Dubovik understood conflicts in the field of environmental protection and the use of natural resources arising in connection with the creation, modification, cancellation of regulatory legal acts ^{[8, p. 252]}. She also drew attention to the fact that both the norms of international law and national legislation are not only poorly adapted to solving and preventing environmental conflicts, but in some cases themselves cause them or contribute to their aggravation ^{[8, pp. 207-208]}. Further in this paper, environmental conflicts present in strategic planning documents will be considered. It seems that this kind of ecological conflict can be attributed to a kind of law-making. The danger of the appearance of pronounced conflicts of interest in strategic planning documents lies in the fact that this type of documents generally sets the direction of the development of legislation, thus creating the risk of transferring conflicts of interest from strategic documents to legislation and further their implementation in the process of implementing specific legal norms and (or) the implementation of a particular activity.

Environmental conflicts. Before proceeding to the consideration of environmental conflicts existing in the issues of ensuring economic, energy and environmental security, it is necessary to briefly outline the main points of contact of these types of security. The key point here seems to be that all three of the above types of security are components of national security, and therefore, their provision should be aimed at achieving a common goal, for which it is necessary both to resolve existing conflicts of interest in this area and to prevent their occurrence in the future. This relationship between the above-mentioned types of security is clearly seen in the text of the National Security Strategy. For example, paragraph 60 of the said document refers to the increasing importance of ecology in the context of the ongoing structural restructuring of the world economy. Subparagraph 16 of paragraph 67 of the National Security Strategy, among the tasks whose solution should ensure the achievement of the goals of ensuring economic security, is the development of low-carbon energy. According to paragraph 81 of the National Security Strategy, the Russian Federation considers its territory, its landscape and biological diversity, unique ecological and resource potential as a national treasure, the preservation and protection of which are necessary to ensure the life of future generations, harmonious human development and the realization of the right of citizens to a favorable environment. In accordance with paragraph 83 of the Strategy under consideration, in order to achieve the goals of ensuring environmental safety and rational use of natural resources, it is necessary to solve, among other things, such tasks as ensuring environmentally oriented economic growth, stimulating the introduction of innovative technologies, developing environmentally friendly industries, ensuring rational and efficient use of natural resources, and developing a mineral resource base. In turn, paragraph 1, paragraph 17 of the Economic Security Strategy refers to one of the main tasks for the implementation of the direction concerning the sustainable growth of the real sector of the economy, a comprehensive modernization of the production and technological base of the branches of the real sector of the economy, taking into account the requirements of industrial and environmental safety. Subparagraph 7 of paragraph 23 of the Economic Security Strategy refers to one of the tasks for the implementation of the direction related to the development of human potential, the improvement of mechanisms for ensuring environmental safety and preservation of a favorable environment. Significant for ensuring an appropriate level of environmental protection and ensuring environmental safety is such an indicator of the state of economic security as the degree of depreciation of fixed assets provided for in paragraph 5, paragraph 27 of the Strategy under consideration. This indicator is also given attention in subclause 17 of the Energy Security Doctrine, where it is attributed to one of the risks in the field of energy security.

According to paragraph 26 of the Energy Security Doctrine, the tasks of maintaining the mineral resource base of the fuel and energy complex and the main production assets of the fuel and energy complex organizations at the level necessary to ensure energy security include, among other things, reducing the negative impact of the economic activities of the fuel and energy complex organizations on the environment (pp. g).

Thus, in the strategic planning documents discussed above, quite a lot of attention is paid to environmental protection issues, and most importantly, nature protection is mentioned in the context of national, economic and energy security. This can also serve as a basis for overcoming environmental conflicts in this area.

At the same time, in some issues related to ensuring national, economic and energy security, one can notice the presence of a clear clash of their respective interests with the interests of environmental protection and environmental safety. For example, according to paragraph 5 of the Energy Security Doctrine, the basis of Russia's energy sector is the fuel and energy complex, while it is emphasized that it plays a major role in replenishing the budget of Russia. This state of affairs is also confirmed in the State Report "On the state and use of mineral resources of the Russian Federation in 2020", according to which the production and export of mineral raw materials, as well as products of its processing, provide a significant part of revenues to the federal budget. At the same time, the share of fuel and energy products (in value terms) in Russian exports is 49.6% (See: On the state and use of mineral resources of the Russian Federation in 2020. State Report. M.: FSBI "VNIGNI", FSBI "Hydrospetsgeology", FSBI "TSNIGRI", 2021. p. 9.). Thus, the energy sector and especially the fuel and energy sector play a key role in ensuring economic security. Consequently, the development of the fuel and energy complex corresponds to the interests of both energy and economic security of Russia. If we look at the development of the fuel and energy complex from the point of view of ensuring environmental safety, then we should pay attention to the fact that environmental pollution that occurs during oil and gas production, which includes oil spills, burning of associated petroleum gas, are among the main types of pollution of nature during mining. For example, in 2021, 10,088 gusts were registered on main pipelines, while 5880 of them were on oil pipelines, corrosion was the cause of 93% of such incidents (See: On the state and Environmental Protection of the Russian Federation in 2021. State Report. Moscow: Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia; Lomonosov Moscow State University, 2022. p. 116.). The high risk of oil spills for the environment of the Russian Arctic is also mentioned in paragraph 13 of the Environmental Safety Strategy. The coal industry also has a significant negative impact on the environment, manifested in water intake, wastewater discharge, emission of harmful substances, withdrawal from land use and land disturbance, formation and disposal of industrial waste (See: On the state and on Environmental Protection of the Russian Federation in 2021. State Report. Moscow: Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia; Lomonosov Moscow State University, 2022. p. 197).

Based on the above data, it can be concluded that the development and active operation of the fuel and energy complex, which is the basis for ensuring energy and economic security, poses a serious threat to environmental safety. And accordingly, activities related to the development and use of the fuel and energy complex require strict regulation and the establishment of strict environmental requirements, which will be discussed later.

It is also noteworthy that some of the main challenges and threats to economic security listed in paragraph 12 of the Economic Security Strategy are factors that reduce the negative impact of anthropogenic activities on nature and, accordingly, should contribute to ensuring environmental safety. Among them should be mentioned: the change in the structure of global demand for energy resources and the structure of their consumption, the development of energy-saving technologies and the reduction of material consumption, the development of "green technologies" (paragraph 6, paragraph 12), the exhaustion of the export-raw material model of economic development (paragraph 9, paragraph 12). A similar approach is also observed in the Doctrine of Energy Security, in which among the challenges, threats and risks in the field of energy security, factors that can have a positive impact on the state of the environment are also named (see, for example: paragraphs b, e, paragraph 8; paragraph 9). It seems that the presence in strategic The absence of the above negative factors from the point of view of ensuring economic and energy security indicates the initial existing contradiction between the main goals of economic activity and environmental protection and emphasizes the need to find ways to achieve a balance of interests in these areas.

Special attention should be paid to the fact that the Energy Security Doctrine (subclause 17) and the Economic Security Strategy (subclause 25, paragraph 12) refer to the establishment of excessive requirements in the field of environmental safety, as well as the increase in the costs of meeting such requirements to threats (challenges) to energy and economic security. It seems that this approach, fixed in the documents under consideration, is the most striking example of a conflict of interests existing at the level of strategic planning in the field of ensuring economic, energy and environmental security. This fact is directly related to the Russian Arctic, since, on the one hand, intensive economic activity is planned in this region, and on the other hand, in accordance with the strategic documents that are devoted to the Russian Arctic (will be discussed below), strengthening environmental protection activities, including an increase in the number of specially protected natural territories.

It should also be said here that the issue of attributing environmental requirements to excess is extremely complex. It seems that from the point of view of the entity carrying out this or that economic activity, most of the existing environmental requirements can be perceived as excessive, increasing costs, reducing the economic efficiency of such activities, etc. At the same time, the observed state of the environment and its individual components indicates a clear insufficiency of such requirements. This state of affairs is reflected in paragraph 6 of the Environmental Safety Strategy, which states that, despite the measures taken to reduce the levels of impact of negative factors on the environment, the threat to environmental safety continues to persist. At the same time, according to paragraph 18 of the Environmental Safety Strategy, economic losses caused by environmental degradation, excluding damage to human health, amount to 4-6% of GDP.

It is advisable to consider this problem on the example of the requirements established in the field of handling oil and petroleum products, since this type of anthropogenic activity, as mentioned above, is one of the most dangerous for nature, especially for the Arctic. So, these requirements are quite extensive and are regulated by a large array of regulatory legal acts. Thus, paragraph 1 of Article 16.1 of Federal Law No. 155-FZ of July 31, 1998 "On Internal Sea Waters, Territorial Sea and Adjacent Zone of the Russian Federation" (hereinafter referred to as the Law on Internal Sea Waters) (Federal Law of the Russian Federation. 1998. No. 31. Article 3833) and Article 22.2 of the Federal Law Dated November 30, 1995 No. 187-FZ "On the Continental Shelf of the Russian Federation" (hereinafter – the Law on the Continental Shelf) (NW RF. 1995. No. 49. St. 4694) provides for the mandatory availability of a plan for the prevention and elimination of oil and petroleum product spills during the implementation of activities that may lead to such spills, for example, drilling operations during the extraction of hydrocarbons, transportation and storage of oil and petroleum products, etc. Article 31 of the Law on the Continental Shelf provides for state environmental expertise, including in relation to federal program projects, other documents and (or) documentation related to the exploration and production of mineral resources of the continental shelf. Plans for the prevention and elimination of oil and petroleum product spills, which were mentioned above, are also subject to environmental expertise. Similar requirements are contained in Article 34 of the Law on Inland Sea Waters.

Article 46 of the Law on Environmental Protection establishes Requirements in the field of environmental protection when carrying out activities in the field of geological exploration, exploration and production of hydrocarbon raw materials, as well as during processing (production), transportation, storage, sale of hydrocarbon raw materials and products made from it. In accordance with paragraph 1 of the article under consideration, when carrying out activities in this area, starting from architectural and construction design and ending with the storage, sale of hydrocarbon raw materials and products made from it, measures should be taken to collect, process, dispose of, neutralize, dispose of production waste, collect associated petroleum gas, land reclamation, and other measures to prevent negative impact on the environment. The article in question establishes, among other things, the need to provide for measures to prevent and eliminate oil and petroleum product spills and other negative effects on the environment during geological exploration, exploration and production of hydrocarbon raw materials, as well as during processing (production), transportation, storage, sale of hydrocarbon raw materials and products made from it (paragraph 3). Also the above-mentioned activities can be carried out only if there are plans to prevent and eliminate oil and petroleum product spills. At the same time, the operating organization must have financial support for the implementation of measures provided for in the plan for the prevention and elimination of oil and petroleum product spills, including compensation in full for damage caused as a result of oil and petroleum product spills (paragraph 2, paragraph 10).

From the above brief overview of legal regulation in the field of oil and petroleum products circulation, it is clear that environmental protection measures aimed at preventing and minimizing environmental harm should be carried out at all stages of this type of activity. The legislation also establishes the obligation to fully compensate for environmental and ecogenic damage resulting from the spill of oil and petroleum products (paragraph 5, paragraph 14, Article 46 of the Law on Environmental Protection). Nevertheless, despite the rather strict environmental requirements established in this area, the level of environmental pollution by oil and petroleum products, as well as the number of oil spills occurring, indicate the insufficiency of such environmental requirements and (or) the low efficiency of their implementation. Thus, it is possible to put forward the thesis that if we really consider the environment and natural resources as the basis of life and activity, then it is incorrect to talk about the redundancy of environmental requirements, at least at this stage of the development of science and technology.

Further, after studying the strategic documents concerning all regions of the Russian Federation, it seems appropriate to consider strategic documents directly devoted to the Arctic or paying special attention to it. This is necessary both in order to identify stress points in such documents that can cause various environmental conflicts in the Russian Arctic, and to understand the directions of development and development of the Russian part of the Arctic.

Thus, according to paragraph 5 of the Fundamentals of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic for the period up to 2035, approved by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 164 of March 5, 2020 (NW RF. 2020 No. 10. St. 1317), (hereinafter referred to as the Fundamentals), one of the main national interests of the Russian Federation in the Arctic includes the development of The Russian Arctic as a strategic resource base and its rational use in order to accelerate Russia's economic growth; the development of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) as a competitive national transport communication of the Russian Federation on the world market; environmental protection in the Arctic, protection of the ancestral habitat and traditional way of life of indigenous peoples living in the territory of the Russian Arctic. Paragraph 9 of the Fundamentals, which deals with the objectives of the state policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic, also refers to the acceleration of the economic development of the Russian Arctic and environmental protection.

The Strategy for the Development of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation and Ensuring National Security for the period up to 2035, approved by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 645 of October 26, 2020 (SZ RF. 2020. No. 44. St. 6970), (hereinafter referred to as the Development Strategy) among the features of the Russian Arctic, which define special approaches to its socio-economic development and ensuring national security in the Arctic, calls extreme natural and climatic conditions, high sensitivity of ecological systems to external influences, climatic changes that contribute to the emergence of both new economic opportunities and risks to economic activity and the environment (paragraphs a, b, c 4 Strategies). In paragraph 5 of the Development Strategy, in the context of the importance of the Russian Arctic for the socio-economic development of the country and ensuring its national security, it is said about such features of the Russian Arctic as the presence of large mineral reserves, the increasing importance of the NSR, etc. However, it also emphasizes the possibility of the occurrence of environmental hazards as a result of anthropogenic impact and (or) climate warming in the Arctic events both in Russia and around the world. At the same time, according to paragraph 7 of the Development Strategy, the main threats to the development of the Russian Arctic and ensuring national security include, among other things, the discrepancy between the pace of development of emergency rescue infrastructure and the public security system and the growth rate of economic activity in the Russian Arctic. At the same time, according to pp. p. 11 of the Development Strategy, the elimination of negative consequences for the environment from economic and other anthropogenic activities is one of the main tasks in the field of social development of the Russian Arctic.

In turn, in order to ensure environmental safety, paragraph 15 of the Development Strategy provides for a number of measures, including the creation of specially protected natural territories, minimization of emissions and discharges of pollutants during economic and other activities, prevention of negative consequences for the environment during the development of natural resources, development of a unified state system for the prevention and elimination of emergency situations in order to implementation of measures to eliminate oil and petroleum product spills, as well as the establishment of state support measures aimed at introducing the best available technologies in the Russian Arctic. Thus, it can be seen from the text of the Fundamentals and Development Strategy that the Russian Arctic is a region in which large-scale economic activities are planned (or are already being carried out), mainly related to the extraction of energy resources and their transportation, as well as the enhanced development of the corresponding infrastructure, which can be considered as an increase in the negative impact on the environment of the Russian Arctic. Accordingly, the risk of environmental conflicts in this region will also increase. However, these documents recognize the vulnerability of the Arctic environment and state the need to strengthen measures related to the protection of the nature of the Russian Arctic, this fact should serve as a basis for the development of environmental legislation that takes into account the peculiarities of the nature of the North, the application of which should contribute to both the prevention of environmental harm and the prevention of environmental conflicts.

The Maritime Doctrine of the Russian Federation, approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 512 dated July 31, 2022 (NR RF. 2022. No. 31. St. 5699), (hereinafter referred to as the Maritime Doctrine) refers to the development of the Russian Arctic as a strategic resource base, its rational use, including the full–scale development of the continental shelf of the Russian Federation (paragraph 13 of paragraph 9), as well as the development of the NSR as a national transport communication, to the national interests of Russia in the World Ocean. At the same time, an increase in the volume of geological exploration and production of hydrocarbon resources on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation, including in the Russian Arctic, is attributed to one of the priority areas for the development of mineral and hydrocarbon resources of the World Ocean, paragraph 3, paragraph 41 of the Maritime Doctrine. According to clause 7, clause 50 of the Maritime Doctrine, the extensive development of natural resources, primarily fuel and energy, in the exclusive economic zone and on the continental shelf in the Russian Arctic belongs to the list of priorities of the national maritime policy in the Arctic regional direction. The above provisions of one of the most important strategic documents of Russia indicate that the burden on the marine environment of the Russian Arctic will increase, and at the expense of high-risk economic activities, such as mining on the continental shelf and the active development of navigation on the NSR, which also involves risks of marine pollution. At the same time, these types of activities are fully consistent with ensuring the interests of both energy and economic security.

An important point is that the Maritime Doctrine pays a lot of attention to environmental issues. Thus, one of the strategic objectives of the national marine policy is the conservation of marine natural ecosystems and the rational use of their resources (paragraph 10, paragraph 27 of the Maritime Doctrine), and one of the principles of the national marine policy is the ecosystem approach (paragraph 8, paragraph 32 of the Maritime Doctrine). According to paragraph 18, paragraph 50 of the Maritime Doctrine, the implementation of comprehensive protection of the natural environment of the Arctic waters under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation is one of the priorities of the national maritime policy in the Arctic regional direction. Accordingly, it can be concluded that the Maritime Doctrine respects a certain balance of interests between nature management and environmental protection. At the same time, for example, in paragraph 15, paragraph 78, it is said about increasing the level of environmental protection due to the transition of domestic marine vessels to environmentally friendly fuels, compliance with environmental requirements when implementing investment projects in the field of maritime transport development, construction of new and reconstruction of existing wastewater treatment facilities, processing and disposal of ship waste. That is, about increasing and tightening both the requirements in the field of environmental protection and control over them, which are considered as negative factors by strategic documents on economic and energy security issues.

It is obvious that both the active economic development of the Russian Arctic and the development of the NSR are associated with an inevitable significant increase in the burden on the Arctic environment, this, in turn, will lead to environmental conflicts in the future and it is hardly possible to completely avoid this. At the same time, in the strategic documents on the Russian Arctic, environmental and economic interests are not directly opposed to each other, this indicates the possibility of establishing a balance between nature management and environmental protection in the Russian Arctic.

Conclusion. Thus, the analysis of strategic documents on issues of national, economic, energy and environmental security, as well as the development of the Russian Arctic, shows the presence of both a conflict of interests and unity in relation to some issues related to environmental protection. This fact speaks, on the one hand, about the complexity of ensuring the national security of the country and the versatility of this problem, on the other – about the urgent need to achieve a balance of interests in these areas. At the same time, it seems possible to shift this balance towards environmental interests. Since the environment as a whole and its individual components in particular are the basis of both the life and activities of the population, as well as almost all aspects of the state's activities, including in the field of energy and economy. In support of this thesis, one can cite both the opinions of scientists, for example, N.M. Zaslavskaya believes that environmental conflicts should be resolved not in favor of one of its parties, but in favor of environmental protection, rational nature management and environmental safety ^[14], and the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, which in its Definition from September 30, 2010 No. 1421-O-O ("Bulletin of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation". 2011. No. 2) He pointed out that the main task of the state is to resolve environmental and economic conflicts and ensure a balance of public and private interests so that in the conditions of economic development, the activities of economic entities have an environmentally compatible character.

It is necessary that such approaches remain not only on paper, but also be reflected in legislation and then in the implementation of economic activities. This is especially true for the Russian Arctic, as N.G. Zhavoronkova and V.B. Agafonov rightly write, the experience of Arctic exploration shows that, despite frequent calls to ensure environmental safety, the harm caused to the environment of the North only increased. According to the authors, it is quite difficult to imagine that one of the Arctic regions, in order to ensure environmental safety, by its decision blocked, for example, mining or any other activity that has a negative impact on nature. However, in world practice, there are cases when environmental interests were put above economic ones, for example, a ban on oil production in Alaska ^[15].

In order to resolve the main law-making environmental conflict that takes place in strategic documents on economic and energy security, it is necessary to exclude from the list of threats (challenges) to economic and energy security such a factor as redundancy of requirements in the field of environmental safety and the increase in the costs of their implementation.

In turn, in order to ensure a balance of interests in the implementation of nature management and environmental protection in the Russian Arctic, it is advisable to use the best available technologies ^[16], however, there is an urgent issue related to the need to develop such technologies and create their reference books specifically for Arctic conditions ^[17]. Also, for this purpose, it is possible to use the natural and ecological framework of the territory ^[18], with the help of which, through the establishment of various nature protection regimes and the implementation of nature management, it is possible to distribute the load on the environment, which will ensure both a sufficient level of its protection and the possibility of effective nature management.