The Arctic This Week Take Five: Week of April 1, 2019
On April 3-4, the High North Dialogue on Business in the Arctic opened its doors for the twelfth time in Northern Norway. More than three hundred participants from all over the world gathered in the city of Bodø for the two-day conference and its numerous thematic side events to highlight and discuss the current regional and global perspectives on development of the Arctic and its multifaceted challenges. One of the High North Dialogue major successes since its inception in 2007 has been its ability to attract and accommodate both high-level politicians, established businessmen and emerging entrepreneurs, young researchers and students (High North Dialogue).
High North Dialogue: Takeaways
This year, the High North Dialogue marked the launch of energy project FREYR, which is currently working on establishing Europe’s largest battery-cell facilities in the Norwegian Arctic (HNN).
As for High North Young Entrepreneur 2019, HND participants voted in favor of American project 60 Hertz Microgrid Inc. and its CEO Piper Foster Wilder from Anchorage, Alaska. Wilder and her project were awarded 50,000 NOK to further develop their work in rural communities across Alaska (HNN).
The very prestigious High North Hero Award went to Dr. Robert Corell, the lead researcher of the Arctic Council’s Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA). With the High North Hero Award, the HND committee wants to recognize the work of individuals who make outstanding efforts to put Arctic issues on the public agenda. Robert Corell’s work and research focus on improving our understanding of the vulnerability of the Arctic and the importance of sustainable development in the Arctic. Former High North Hero award winners include former Prime Minister of Finland, Paavo Lipponen (2016), American Scott Minerd, founder of Guggenheim Partners (2017), and Mary Simon for her work to promote Arctic indigenous peoples’ rights (2018) (HNN).
Take 1: One of the main objectives of the High North Dialogue is to actively engage students, early-career researchers and young business practitioners, providing a platform for fruitful discussions with established politicians and businessmen. Happening right before the upcoming “Arctic: Territory of Dialogue” conference held in Saint-Petersburg next week, the High North Dialogue stressed the significance of Arctic cooperation, explicitly underlined by Norwegian PM Erna Solberg in her opening speech as well as by all Arctic ambassadors. The participation of EU Ambassador for the Arctic at large, Marie-Anne Conninsx, was one of the highlights and clear signs of EU’s growing engagement with the Arctic and the High North.
The Arctic Institute, as a partner of the High North Center for Business and Governance, was proud to be among the organizers of the High North Dialogue and would like to thank all conference participants and colleagues for their contributions to this year’s conference!
Nunavut’s 20-year Anniversary
April 1 marked the twenty-year anniversary since the division of the Northwest Territories into two territories to allow for the creation of Nunavut. Created on March 29, 1999, Nunavut is the newest and the northernmost territorial entity in Canada. Happy birthday, Nunavut! (Nunatsiaq News, The Globe and Mail)
Take 2: Nunavut (“our land” in Inuktitut), a project born in the middle of the 1970s, is the result of many years of negotiations that eventually led in 1993 to one of the biggest land claim settlements in the history of Canada and to the division of the Northwest Territories into two territories in 1999. However, with an increasing population (from 26,820 in 1999 to 38,650 last year), the highest birth rate and the youngest population in the country, Nunavut still faces many challenges. Many Inuit in Nunavut feel that the territorial government is not doing enough to protect their rights and their interests, especially when it comes to employment, language and education.
Electric Cars Top Sales in Norway
According to the Norwegian electric cars statistics website elbilstatistikk.no, a total of 11,518 electric vehicles were registered over the last month. This represents nearly twice as many as in March of 2018, which again was nearly twice as much as the previous year. The figures include nearly new cars imported from abroad. In the High North, the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association is calling for more infrastructure investment in Finnmark and Troms to accommodate more electric cars (EOTA).
Take 3: At a time where Norway is trying to find new solutions to invest in renewable sources of energy and new forms of transportation, these statistics show that there is a willingness amongst Norwegians to phase out fossil fuels and create a more sustainable future. While petroleum is likely to still play an important role in the development of the Norwegian economy, the current prognosis predicting more than 1.5 million electric cars on the roads in Norway by 2030 highlights that the electric car industry does have a bright future in northern Europe.
New Cruise Ships Rules in the Russian Arctic
The Russian draft legislation aimed at developing cruise ship tourism in the Arctic and the Far East was approved by the State Duma without amendments. Foreign vessels with tourists on board crossing the Russian border will now be able to travel in Russia’s inland waters and territorial sea between ports open for ships under foreign flags, except for closed and temporarily dangerous navigation areas. However, when foreign tourist vessels travel in areas adjacent to the Russian regions located in the Arctic zone or the Far Eastern Federal District, they will only be able to call at ports approved by the Russian Government.
Take 4: With this new legislation, the Russian government shows its willingness and readiness to picture the Northern Sea Route and the Russian Arctic as a region that is not only profitable for oil and gas development and transhipment but also as a hub for luxurious Arctic cruises. The draft law suggests that the ports where foreign tourists can go ashore and return back to the ship should be specified on a list approved by the Russians. It also allows foreign tourist vessels to take on food at ports while traveling in Russian inland sea waters and the territorial sea. This is likely to attract tourists and cruise vessels to many cities along the NSR, and to attract private investors looking to develop tourist facilities and infrastructure in the region (Arctic.ru).
Dry Wells: a Red Flag Against or a Green Light for Further Oil Exploration?
On April 2, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate announced that Gjøkåsen well is dry. A part of license area 857 was drilled by rig «West Hercules» and operated by Equinor. It is the second well drilled in the area. The Gjøkåsen area is located about 175 km north of the North Norwegian town of Vardø and only 55 km from the maritime border with Russia. It is one of the easternmost licensing areas on the Norwegian continental shelf. The main objective in developing this well was to prove the hydrocarbon potential of the early and late Triassic rocks, but none of them were hydrocarbon bearing.
Take 5: As many people across the globe are calling for oil-producing countries to scale down their industries and eventually phase out non-renewable energy, the Gjøkåsen well might provide a picture of what is to come for petroleum development in the Arctic as a whole. Although completely divesting from fossil fuel exploitation might not be a viable option in the short-term, the Gjøkåsen well highlights the need for new solutions and smart investments to solve the climate crisis while maintaining energy security across the Arctic and Europe (BO).