The Arctic This Week Take Five: Week of 27 February, 2023
Reforms to Sámi Parliament Act Fail to Pass to Parliamentary Vote
As reported by Yle News on February 25, a cross-party parliamentary committee has blocked a bill of reforms to the Sámi Parliament Act from progressing to a final vote in the Finnish legislature. Proposed amendments to the legislation would reform the electoral list eligibility of Sámi assemblies and expand the Sámi role in consulting on land use issues. Prime Minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Sanna Marin expressed disappointment with the failure of the Sámi Parliament Act to pass during this legislative term. Voting to cancel the report succeeded by a narrow vote of 9 – 7. (Yle News)
Take 1: The Sámi people are Europe’s only formally recognized Indigenous group, with a territory that spans northern Finland as well as Norway, Sweden and Russia. Under the original Sámi Parliament Act of 1996, a person is considered eligible to vote in Sámi elections in Finland if they meet one of two criteria. Either their grandparent or more recent relative spoke Sámi as a home language, or an ancestor was recorded as a ‘Lapplander’ – an occupational term denoting those who practised activities such as hunting, reindeer husbandry, fishing and gathering – in tax and land records. Those who paid this tax included both ethnic Finns and ethnic Sámi, but it was strongly associated with the traditional Sámi livelihood. . Reforms would extend the language requirement back by one generation and remove the ‘Laplander Clause.’ Critics of the current legislation argue the ‘Laplander Clause’ is too broad and forces the assimilation of the Sámi people into the Finnish people. The Sámi Parliament has repeatedly rejected applicants who claim Sámi rights on this basis. However, in a series of rulings since 2011, the Finnish high court has overturned those decisions and admitted hundreds of new voters to the electoral list. The UN has criticized this practice as a violation of the Sámi right to self-determination. Reforms would have also revised how Finland’s Parliament consults with Sámi assemblies on land management issues – imitating a process similar to obtaining free, prior and informed consent, that is recognized by international standards like the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Failure to proceed with reforms has done little to dispel the view that Finland is obstructing the implementation of key Indigenous Rights for the Sámi people. (Eye on the Arctic, EuroNews, Finnish Government, Grist, Helsingin Sanomat)
More Supplies Added to Arctic ‘Doomsday’ Seed Vault
As reported by Arctic Today on February 28, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault has announced that it will add 19,500 rare seed variety samples from across the world to its collection, taking its total stock to more than 1.2 million. The seed vault was launched in 2008 as a backup for the world’s national and regional gene banks that store the genetic code for thousands of plant species. The additional seed deposits were timed to coincide with a virtual tour launch to mark the vault’s 15-year anniversary. (Arctic Today)
Take 2: The Svalbard Seed Vault acts as a safety deposit box for the global network of 1,700 gene banks which collect, preserve and share seeds to further agricultural research. The permafrost and thick rocks of the Arctic mountainside ensure that even without power, seed samples are maintained at sufficiently low temperature and moisture levels to keep the seeds viable for long periods of time. The significance of the Svalbard Seed Vault was highlighted in 2015 when the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) used deposits from Svalbard to rebuild their gene bank following damage sustained during the Syrian civil war. However, the Svalbard Seed Vault was not only designed to safeguard the stability of the world’s food supply during periods of localized destruction, but also during potential global emergencies created by climate change. Whilst technological advances have allowed the development of large-scale crop production, biodiversity has decreased to the point that now only roughly 30 crops provide 95% of human food-energy needs. The monoculture nature of agriculture leaves food supplies more vulnerable if harvests repeatedly fail. However, the genetic diversity contained in the vault could provide the DNA traits needed to develop new crop varieties to overcome challenges like a changing climate or the introduction of new diseases. Given the recent geopolitical tension in the Arctic region, the Svalbard Seed Vault represents a hopeful exercise in altruistic international cooperation. There are no political or diplomatic restrictions on deposits of seed samples, meaning nations are able to unite endeavours to secure the food supply of present and future generations. (EuroNews, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, The New Yorker, The World Bank, Time)
Outbreak of Tuberculosis in Pangnirtung Continues to Grow
As reported by CBC News on February 27, the number of people diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) has continued to rise in the hamlet of Pangnirtung, Nunavut. An additional 2 people have been diagnosed with active tuberculosis and 20 with latent tuberculosis. This brings the total sum of recorded TB cases since the outbreak was officially declared in the area in 2021 to 206. TB is a bacterial infection that is contagious when active and requires treatment. (CBC News)
Take 3: Although the spread of TB in Pangnirtung is taking place at a slower rate than an earlier outbreak, it is the largest to be publicly reported in Nunavut since the federal government vowed in 2018 to eliminate TB in Inuit communities. The average annual rate of TB amongst Inuit communities in Canada remains 290 times higher than in Canadian born non-Indigenous communities. Risk factors which contribute to such disproportionate rates of TB infection in these communities include poverty, overcrowded housing, food insecurity and access to culturally appropriate healthcare. Progress of the 2018 strategy to address TB infections stalled in 2020 as a result of insufficient government funding and failure to address the larger Inuit housing crisis, with the outbreak of Covid-19 also contributing to delays. Some success may be seen in the inclusion of Indigenous health on medical school curriculums, as well as the launch of a satellite campus to enable Indigenous students to train as health professionals without having to relocate from their home region. However, the ongoing outbreak is unacceptable in light of the region’s troubling historical relationship with TB epidemics. During the 1930s, the Inuit were involuntary test subjects for experimental vaccines, and between the 1940s and 1960s Inuit who tested positive for TB were sent south for treatment with no information on their condition or deaths relayed to families. Despite an apology by Canadian Prime Justin Trudeau in 2019 for past wrongs, the relationship of ‘double standards and unfair, unequal treatment’ appears to persist in the present. (CBC News, CMAJ, Infectious Disease Modelling, The Globe and Mail, The Guardian)
Retreating Sea Ice Causes Polar Bears to Move from Svalbard to Franz Josef Land
As reported by The Barents Observer on February 27, scientists at the Tromsø Norwegian Polar Institute have observed a greater number of Barents polar bears migrating north of Svalbard to the Franz Josef Land archipelago to give birth to cubs near more stable sea ice. Recent data from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute ice service demonstrates there is close to no sea ice on the west and north coasts of the Svalbard islands of Spitsbergen and Nordaustlandet. (The Barents Observer)
Take 4: Prior to the 1973 Polar Bear Agreement, commercial hunters in Svalbard killed in excess of 30,000 bears. Following the Agreement the population recovered, with a ninth of the world’s total stock of polar bears now belonging to the Barents Sea population. However, scientific monitoring is increasingly important as the accelerating loss of sea-ice habitat creates new challenges. As the sea ice recedes, the route to denning areas becomes more difficult. Whilst in previous years bears could cover the distance by walking on the ice edge which extended further south, bears are now required to swim hundreds of kilometres – a dangerous and energy intensive activity. Additionally, the retreating sea ice is shortening the hunting season, something which reproduction rates as female bears are left with less fat reserves to survive the winter and provide nutrition for cubs. The trend to migrate north towards Franz Josef Land where the sea ice is more stable is a suitable short-term solution, but this will not remain a viable route if ice continues to disappear at the present rate. Furthermore, the increasing activity of the polar bear population in Franz Josef Land is problematic for scientists based at Svalbard. There are currently no joint funding programs for official scientific collaborations between Russia and Norway following the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Consequently, the long-term future of the Barents Sea polar bears remains uncertain should environmental and geopolitical stressors fail to elevate. (MOSJ, Norwegian Polar Institute, Science Business, The Research Council of Norway, WWF)
Russia Cancels Plans to Build Fleet of Nuclear-Powered Icebreakers
As reported by The Barents Observer on March 1, an updated version of Russia’s Arctic Strategy states that Russia will only build one Lider nuclear powered icebreaker, not three as originally planned. The reduction of the number of Liders will be compensated by the construction of more LK-60 icebreakers. (The Barents Observer)
Take 5: The Lider project involves the construction of the largest ever nuclear-powered icebreaker. The lead ship, ‘Rossiya,’ is currently under construction at the Zvezda shipyard in the Russian Far East and is due to be ready for sailing in 2027. The two RITM-400 nuclear reactors powering the vessel are the most powerful ever built for civilian shipping. With the capability of breaking through 4.1-meter-thick ice, the Lider vessels are twice the size and 13.5 meters wider than the icebreakers of the 22220 class. The vessels will be able to sail virtually year-around in all known ice-conditions along the Northern Sea Route north of Siberia, as well as crossing the Trans-Polar Route. A key aspect to ensuring reliable and speedy escorts for commercial vessels during winter is the Lider class’s purported ability to break up to 2.5 meters thick ice continuously at 10 knots. Significantly, the ‘giant’ vessel is a complicated build at a cost of 1.85 billion euros. However, the investment in the icebreaker seems necessary following a series of sanctions placed on the Russian government by the EU, with the latest aimed at reducing Russia’s ability to use the Northern Sea Route. Indeed, the updated document comes only two days after the European Commission adopted its 10th package of sanctions against Russia for its war in Ukraine. Instead of the less ice infested route through Europe, Russia will have to escort oil and gas tankers on the longer and more challenging voyage from the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas to obtain profits from the Asian market. (Barents Observer, High North News)