Partnerships and stakeholder engagement

Engagement with the academic community

Cooperation with the Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences continued, focusing on climate change forecasts for the Company’s regions of operation. In 2024, Nornickel also maintained its collaboration with Fedorovsky Polar State University.

• A commission established at the university to address the design, construction, operation, and monitoring of buildings and engineering structures in the Norilsk Industrial District reviewed two of Nornickel’s facilities. Recommendations were issued to bring these facilities into regulatory compliance and to guide further research efforts.
• As part of the winter field school, the Norilsk site – in collaboration with the Geography Department at Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) – conducted studies of snow accumulation within Norilsk’s urban area and the surrounding tundra zone. The research assessed the impact of snow deposition on the thermal regime of permafrost soils.
• During the geocryology summer field school, joint fieldwork by Norilsk researchers and MSU’s Geology Department included landscape, geophysical, and geodetic surveys at permafrost research sites, with monitoring of cryogenic processes initiated.
• The integration of thermometric data, engineering surveys, and snow cover measurements enabled the creation of digital 3D models of the research sites and subsequent forecasting of climate change effects on permafrost.
• Monitoring of thermokarst Lake Maloye’s evolution was initiated. A comparative analysis showed that the lake’s surface area has expanded by more than 9% over 20 years.

Engagement with indigenous peoples

In 2021, the Indigenous Communities Coordination Council was established in the Taimyrsky Dolgano‑Nenetsky Municipal District at the initiative of tribal communities of indigenous small‑numbered peoples of the North. The Council represents 58 communities. The Council meets twice a year to discuss, among other topics, the adaptation of traditional economic activities to changing climatic conditions, including the impact of climate change on fishing practices, the use of natural pasture lands for domestic reindeer grazing, and the migration routes of wild reindeer.

The Company also supports reindeer herding communities. For example, in 2024, ten solar panel kits were purchased for herders in the Khatanga rural settlement.

Participation in COP29

In November 2024, Nornickel participated in the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29), held in Baku. At COP29, delegates from more than 100 countries discussed measures to address the adverse effects of global warming and proposed solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Nornickel speakers showcased the Company’s innovation projects and climate action initiatives leveraging the Company’s unique expertise in operating in the Arctic region.