Air
Improving air quality in order to protect the environment and public health from air pollutants while complying with statutory standards for permissible emissions.
Norilsk Nickel is committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals 3 “Good Health and Well-Being” and 11 “Ensuring openness, security, resilience and environmental sustainability of cities and towns”. The Company considers it crucial to reduce negative environmental impact of cities, including by focusing efforts on air quality improvement.
Reduction of SO2 emissions by 2035
Reduction of SO2 emissions by 2035
As a result of Nornickel’s production activities, more than 60 pollutants enter the air, 96% of the total emissions are sulfur dioxide.
To achieve our quantitative targets at Norilsk and Kola sites, we are running the
Zapolyarny Division (Norilsk and Kola sites): S02 emissions
Ongoing capacity upgrades
At the end of 2024, Nornickel launched an automatic air quality monitoring system in Norilsk. This is the first project launched in the Arctic Circle and one of Russia’s first projects enabling real-time assessment of air pollution levels.
For the project, 16 environmental monitoring stations were installed in the Norilsk Industrial District to measure the air content of sulphur dioxide (SO2), hydrogen sulphide (H2S), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and dust, as well as temperature, pressure, and humidity.
Today, the monitoring data are used to calculate an air quality index, which is posted on the
In July 2025, the automatic air quality monitoring system in Monchegorsk was officially launched. The new system represents an advanced digital platform that provides round-the-clock monitoring of air quality in real time. It combines data from 13 environmental monitoring stations located in the city. The collected data is processed and published in real time on the official website of the Monchegorsk administration in the form of an air quality index, which is calculated based on the maximum permissible concentrations of pollutants.
In 2023, at the Russian Environmental Forum Nornickel presented for the first time a prototype of a predictive emission monitoring software complex - AXIOMA - an innovative emission control technology based on artificial intelligence, developed for accurate measurement of air pollution indicators.
The system implies: monitoring of current emissions, a forecast of the quantitative and qualitative composition of emissions, their distribution, taking into account the technological regime of production and local weather conditions, as well as the transfer of data to the state register.
AXIOMA allows creating digital twins of industrial machines capable of modeling technological processes, receiving data from automated production control systems and monitoring emissions in real time.
The product was successfully tested at the facilities in Norilsk and Monchegorsk: its accuracy was higher than that of traditional physical devices. The Axioma system developed by Nornickel became the first AI-powered measuring instrument to be officially recognised in Russia. Now the system is being replicated at the company's energy facilities - it can be implemented at any enterprise in the country.
The AXIOMA project was recognized as the best in the nomination "Best Application of AI" at the conference "Digital Industry of Industrial Russia" (CIPR) in 2025.
Air pollutant emissions, kt
Air emissions by pollutant, kt
In 2025, the Group’s total emissions amounted to 1.2 mt, down 8% y-o-y.
The decrease in emissions is due to the continuation of the implementation of the Sulfur Programme at the Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant.