The Future of the Arctic: A Key to Global Sustainability (original) (raw)
Related papers
2012
The USACOR Report forecasts that by 2050 the Arctic will become the major supplier of energy to the world, in particular oil and natural gas, and natural resources such as mineral water. In the coming decades, the population in the Arctic region is projected to increase significantly due to the expansion of exploration for resources. The Report recommends that a Zero emission policy be implemented throughout the Arctic area for water emissions into the seas, rivers, or estuaries and oceans. The Report recommends that the Arctic Council guarantees safe navigation and environmental protection, establishing a Fund to cover expenses to purchase icebreakers and towards the cost of the personnel in order to assist commercial navigation in the Arctic region. The Arctic Council shall also issue environmental rules to regulate the mineral exploitation in the region and ensure that the wildlife is protected and that the exploitation of resources is conducted in a sustainable manner.
Charting a sustainable course through changing Arctic waters
2009
As the Arctic ice recedes, the opportunities for all year round routing of merchant shipping through Arctic waters rise. The freeing up of Arctic waters may also attract increased numbers of scientific research vessels servicing oil and gas installations, foreign fishing vessels and warships. The prospect of major navigational channels opening up in this region brings risks to a pristine Arcti environment and its indigenous inhabitants. This article highlights the threats posed to the species, habitats and ecosystems of Arctic waters from increased shipping transits of the region including the potential for increased vessel source discharges of noxious and hazardous substances and the catastrophic consequences of groundings for the Arctic environment and its biodiversity. It reviews the legal controversies over the status of certain parts of Arctic waters and the navigational regimes applicable to foreign flag vessels transiting Arctic waters under the 1982 United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC). The need to balance navigational rights with appropriate environmental safeguards under an increasing array of international environmental principles including the precautionary approach and obligations to assess the impact of ship based activities on the global environment and its marine components is examined. The article then analyses some of the regulatory mechanisms which have been devised to promote environmentally sustainable navigation for shipping in sensitive areas of ocean space subject to high levels of shipping traffic through the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Towards a More Sustainable Arctic. Background Paper 4/2021
2021
In July 2020, the European External Action Service of the European Commission launched a public consultation on the way forward for the European Union’s Arctic policy. The consultation was held to re-examine the role of the EU in Arctic affairs, to revise the priorities of the current Joint Communication on an integrated European Union policy for the Arctic and the actions thereunder, and to identify possible new policy areas to be developed. As part of its work within the NDI Think Tank Action, IIASA responded to this call addressing specific questions of this public consultation. This paper presents the submitted material and provides further reflections on the discussed matters from the Northern Dimension perspective
Arctic Sustainability: The Predicament of Energy and Environmental Security
Connections: The Quarterly Journal, 2011
Acquisition of Arctic hydrocarbon deposits is a strategic priority of Arctic states and numerous non-Arctic states alike. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the area north of the Arctic Circle holds 13 percent of undiscovered global oil reserves and 30 percent of undiscovered gas reserves, with the expectation that 84 percent of these reserves will be found offshore. Increasing global demand for energy, attributed primarily to population and income growth, alongside technical advancements and financial incentives will likely accelerate the rate at which stakeholders seek out these presumed Arctic hydrocarbons. 1 Several non-state and state actors are concurrently pursuing a variety of means by which to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). From financial incentives and regulatory schemes aimed at increasing the development and instillation of renewable energy sources to persuasive articulations that address the detrimental effects of climate change, these stakeholders recognize that an everlasting thirst for non-renewable resources is a proposition lacking in long-term viability. Whereas large multilateral climate change agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol have been exceedingly difficult to get right, regionally-based networks of like-minded parties have achieved considerable success. Examples of such networks include the Inuit Circumpolar Council and the European Union, both of which have made significant contributions toward addressing the implications of hydrocarbon dependency, albeit from very different perspectives. The Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC)-a group representing the interests of Inuit from Canada, Denmark, Russia, and the United States-now grapples with the balance between preserving their homeland and the potential socioeconomic benefits of hydrocarbon extraction. Instead of focusing solely on extracting energy resources, the European Union (EU) is seeking to reduce region-wide GHG emissions, and is emphasizing * Erica Dingman is an Associate Fellow at the World Policy Institute based in New York City. Her research focuses on a broad spectrum of issues facing the Arctic in respect to climate change. From the geopolitical theater of Arctic stakeholders to interested non-Arctic parties the Arctic is increasingly the focus of government policy and international relations. In this context, Erica's research turns to the interconnection between climate change, hydrocarbon and mineral exploration, and the political participation of Inuit, one of the Arctic's indigenous groups.
Sustainable Development of the Arctic
Handbook of Research on International Collaboration, Economic Development, and Sustainability in the Arctic
Circumpolar territories and the regions related to the Arctic are those rich with natural resources. They have a high potential for the development of mining and extractive industries. The abundance with resources makes the North increasingly attractive for investments. However, circumpolar territories are characterized by peculiar socio-economic, natural, and climatic conditions which taken together frequently pose a negative impact on people and hinder the exploration opportunities of the Arctic resources. In global, regional, and sub-regional levels, the development of the Arctic is heavily regulated by multilateral international treaties. However, the issues of monitoring and assessment of the sustainable development of the Arctic remain open, which stems from the absence of agreed criteria and indicators for assessing sustainability in the context of national, regional, and scientific approaches. It necessitates the development of a specific methodological approach to the estab...
Energy outlook for the Arctic: 2020 and beyond
Polar Record, 2015
At least four littoral countries have Arctic strategies that address energy issues. However, US, Canada, Russia and Norway strategies up to 2020 and beyond, reveal different interests in exploring Arctic resources. While Arctic oil and gas are of strategic importance to Russia and to Norway, Canada and the US seem content with continuing their current extraction predominantly south of the Arctic Circle. Despite the different approaches, the outcomes seem strangely similar. Indeed, despite the hype concerning the Arctic in the last decade, and for very diverse reasons, it is unlikely that any of these four countries will increase hydrocarbon production in the Arctic during the period under analysis. This was true even before the recent drop in oil prices. For all its potential, it is unclear what lies ahead for the region.
Scenarios for Sustainable Development in the Arctic until 2050
Arctic Yearbook, 2021
The Arctic region has increasingly come to be seen in a new light because of the global transformations resulting from the disruptive challenges of climate change and shifting global political, social and economic patterns. The harsh environmental conditions there have long constrained economic activity. The climate crisis, while having a negative impact on the region in some senses, opens up new prospects for development in others. The Arctic has become a geopolitical hot spot where global and regional players seek to increase their influence. On one side, the Arctic possesses vast natural resources and increasingly will be an important global source of bio-resources. The area is also one of geopolitical tension. On the other side, the Arctic represents a "temperature gauge" for distant pollution and waste in the sea. At the same time, powerful voices from supranational institutions are putting heavy pressure on preserving the Arctic as a kind of "nature protected area" with severe restrictions on economic activity and human impact. This paper draws attention to the tension between the regional interest in maintaining and developing a socially, economically and biologically sustainable area of human settlement and the more detached interest in preserving the Arctic as a nature reserve. The study approaches Arctic development from a social, ecological and environmental point of view, mapping key development drivers and the changing geopolitical context. The research utilizes scenario methodology and qualitative expert interviews combined with comprehensive literature studies. Four scenarios illustrate how the Arctic might look in 2050 and what the implications might be for the sustainable development of the region from the economic, social and environmental perspectives.
2013
In North America, destination shipping has grown along the Northwest Passage and the Beaufort Sea. Approximately 430 ships a year traveled through the Bering Strait between 2009 and 2010, almost doubling the number of previous ships traversing the same corridor. Barges and tugboats make dozens of trips to resupply their goods, between the U.S. Beaufort Sea coastline and Canada's Northwest Territory, from mid-July until the end of October. Commodity ships sail along Alaska's northern coastline, to Prudhoe Bay or Point Barrow through the Bering Strait to U.S. Arctic ports. About 6,000 ships sailed Arctic waters in 2004, either along the coast of Iceland and the Norwegian Sea, or along the northern coast of Norway and then into the Barents Sea, or across the Bering Sea and north Pacific. About 60% of the 6,000 ships were general cargo ships, container ships, or bulk carriers. This article covers the impediments faced by the growing Arctic shipping endeavors, offshore oil and ga...