In Yakutsk (Russian Federation) from March 22 to 24, 2023, an international conference on climate change and permafrost melting was held as part of the implementation of the Plan of the Chairmanship of the Russian Federation in the Arctic Council, which was attended by more than 200 experts from Russia, China, India, Kazakhstan, Japan and other countries.

The main goal of the conference is to search for joint practical and scientifically based solutions in terms of adapting the economy to climate change and the participation of scientists from different countries in international projects to monitor the state of glacial systems in the context of global climate change and glaciers degradation.

The event was attended by Kazakhstan scientists, director of the Central Asian Regional Glaciological Centre as a category 2 centre under the auspices of UNESCO, Professor Balykbayev Takir Ospanovich and head of the Laboratory of Mountain Cryosphere Monitoring, researcher Kapitsa Vassiliy Petrovich.

The conference program included two plenary sessions on topical issues of permafrost and climate change.

At the plenary session "Permafrost and the challenges of global climate change" made a report on glaciological studies in Kazakhstan Balykbayev T.O., Director of the CARGC.

At the round table "Actual problems of the cryosphere: the view of young scientists" a report was made on "Buried ice of the Tuiyksu group of glaciers as a source of compensatory flow" by researcher Kapitsa V.P.

In the frames of the conference, a meeting was held with the director of the Melnikov Permafrost Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Zheleznyak M.N.

The result of the visit to the institute was the signing of memorandum of mutual cooperation between the Melnikov Permafrost Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Central Asian Regional Glaciological Centre as a category 2 centre under the auspices of UNESCO. The priority tasks of the signed Memorandum are:

• Inventory of permafrost monitoring data at 32 wells

• Upgrading of equipment for measuring the temperature regime of permafrost in wells;

• Drilling new wells to monitor the response of permafrost to climate change in the high mountains of Kazakhstan.

The parties agreed on further joint use of the high-mountain station "Zhusaly Kezen", located at the altitude of 3300 m above sea level, in the upper reaches of Ulken Almaty River valley.

To implement the tasks set in the Memorandum, the Melnikov Permafrost Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences provided the Kazakh side with 3 streamers with temperature sensors, 10, 15, and 20 meters long for updating failed streamers and for installation in new wells.

The conference ended with a visit by the employees of the Kazakhstan glaciological center to the unique laboratory of the Melnikov Permafrost Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, located underground at a depth of up to 12 meters.