The Arctic This Week Take Five: Week of June 6, 2022
Borders are Just Funny Lines On a Map: Arctic Cooperation Missing its Other Half
As reported by High North News on June 8, the so-called Arctic 7 Arctic Council member states ofCanada, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the United States issued a joint statement on implementing a limited resumption of the work of the Arctic Council without the participation of the Russian Federation. (High North News)
Take 1: With half of the Arctic now missing from ‘circumpolar’ cooperation, the chilling estimate for the Russian Arctic Tundra does not bode well for the future of capacity building, and for climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. While the Arctic 7 are building up cooperation among themselves, the absence of Russia is the notable elephant in the room: how can scientific, diplomatic, economic and people-to-people cooperation and communication realistically continue if the Russian Federation is not a part of the discussions? To quote Native Hawaiian scholar Dr. Keolu Fox, borders are funny lines on a map. Fish don’t care if they have trespassed into Canadian waters. The birds don’t care if they flew from China to Russia. An oil spill doesn’t stop neatly at national borders. Arctic air, land and water pollution requires realistic and effective countermeasures. As such, it is difficult to know how long this new cooperation configuration can last. (Arctic Circle, The Arctic Institute, The Barents Observer)
Food Security and the Climate Crisis: A Double Burden
As reported by Eye on The Arctic on June 6, scientists have found melting permafrost to be a significant source of mercury in the Canadian Arctic, with traces found in rivers, lakes and the Arctic Ocean. No immediate health measures are being taken regarding dietary restrictions as risks are still considered to be very low. (CBC, Eye On The Arctic)
Take 2: Food security is a major priority for the circumpolar Arctic. Climate change-induced land, sea and weather degradation has impacted virtually all regional life – from migration patterns, to population rates, to the growing presence of plastic and other pollutantsThe levels of mercury found in meat from Arctic animals is estimated to be ten times higher than before the Industrial Revolution; but have either stabilized or declined since the 1980,, However, the added mercury release from thawing permafrost has yet to be fully measured. However, the message here is not that the consumption of Arctic animals should come to a halt. . The bigger question is instead how to mitigate and adapt to the changing landscape and the consequences of thawing permafrost- both in terms of the carbon but also the other pollutants it releases… Arctic communities are not at the origin of the ongoing climate crisis, nor are they a major source of pollution globally. The ongoing colonial power dynamics between these communities and the state is a continuous infringement on their livelihood. As such, the effects this has on the capacity of these communities for climate change adaptation and mitigation also ought to ring the bells of justice. It is clear that food security is an issue of social justice that requires an understanding of development that encompasses human security under decolonial praxis. (Arctic Council, Eurasia Review, PAME)
Decolonization is Not a Metaphor
As reported by Eye on The Arctic on June 3, The Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) has released a set of guidelines for researchers, institutions and policy makers conducting or interested in conducting research in the Arctic. The new Circumpolar Inuit Protocols on Equitable and Ethical Engagement (EEE Protocols) were developed with the aim of resolving grievances experienced by Arctic Inuit communities who feel disregarded by researchers and decision makers. They cover issues from the recognition of Indigenous knowledge, to building meaningful partnerships to the importance of ownership and permissions in information and data sharing. (Eye on The Arctic)
Take 3: The ICC represents approximately 180,000 Inuit from Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Chukotka and has been developing these protocols since the Utqiaġvik Declaration of 2018. Indigenous communities worldwide face deep structural exploitation regarding data sovereignty, where colonial legacies have informed contemporary research practices that range from abusive museum practices to outright theft.. As succinctly expressed by the title of a seminal paper by Dr. Tuck and Dr. Yang, decolonization is not a metaphor. As they elaborate further in the paper, true “decolonization brings about the repatriation of Indigenous land and life”. As such, data sovereignty forms a foundation for effective decolonization through establishing agency and decision-making capacity. The standard Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Decolonisation (EDID) ethics regulations followed by most Arctic research institutions are nothing more than a democratic performance; allowing for data to be extracted and ownership to be withheld from Indigenous communities in research. The acceptance of these current standards make the EEE Protocols all the more needed. (Animikii, Decolonization Indigeneity, Education and Society, Eye On The Arctic, Nunatsiaq News)
Renewable Energy and Policy Making: A Difficult Move Away from Black Carbon
As reported by Arctic Today on June 6, four Inuit-led energy projects in Nunavut and Nunavik will each receive CA$1.6 million as part of the Impact Indigenous Off-Diesel Initiative. The funding comes from Natural Resources Canada and is geared towards developing 14 Indigenous-led clean energy projects. (Arctic Today)
Take 4: Kugaaruk, Coral Harbour, Gjoa Haven, Baker Lake and Kuujjuaq constitute the four locations which will benefit from this funding. From solar energy to geothermal heating in developing residential and community energy-efficient infrastructures, these projects will help support communities in moving away from diesel dependency. The project in Kuujjuaq also includes the installation of two electric vehicle charging stations. While electric vehicles’ resistance to extreme low temperatures is an ongoing technological challenge, this push towards the electrification of vehicles and overall infrastructures away from diesel is an encouraging sign for the reduction of black carbon emissions. In Murmansk alone, 69% of black carbon emissions originate from diesel combustion. Although the 2017 Arctic Council Fairbanks Declaration aims to cut black carbon emissions by 25%-33% below the 2013 levels by 2025, these goals may be delayed by the recent degradation of Arctic relations. Nevertheless, these policy measures only tackle a part of the problem, and both primary and secondary anthropogenic emissions pose a significant challenge to reduction policies in the Arctic. As such, policies to reduce local black carbon emissions are key and necessary in climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. Nonetheless, effective and strong institutional policies to accompany these local measures must live up to the scale of the climate crisis. (Arctic Council, Earth’s Future, Elementa, Nunatsiaq News, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Policy Options Politiques)
Jobs and Opportunities in the Arctic Draining Down to the South
As reported by Nunatsiaq News on June 6, Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation has filed a notice to start the process of laying off a significant portion – close to 1,300 workers – of their workforce. Some 209 of these employees are Inuit. (Nunatsiaq News)
Take 5: Livelihood opportunities are key to the economic development and stability of the Arctic. The employment rate in Nunavut stands at about 53%, compared to 61% nationally in Canada. Unemployment rates are even more telling: from a 13% rate in Nunavut to a 5,2% national average. Across Fennoscandia, the exploitation and development of resources impedes on the capacity of Sami reindeer herders to sustain their livelihood. In Russia, industrial waste in the area of Norilsk deeply impacts the health of the land and water for which Indigenous communities – the Dolgans, Nenets, Nganasans, Evenki and Enets – bear the brunt of the consequences. Livelihood opportunities, whether they are in employment in mining and other key sectors or linked to traditional occupations, are vital to the continuation of people’s ability to live on their ancestral lands. The youth- and brain- drain from the High North to Southern economic centers impacts population stability and further limits regional economic sustainability. While population rates are declining sharply in the Russian Arctic- down to nearly 20% in some areas- southern economic hubs are experiencing significant population growth.For instance, St Petersburg grew by 15% between 2010 and 2020. The Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation massive layoffs are a symptom of this economically worrying circumpolar trend. (CBC, IWGIA, Statistics Canada, Statistics Norway, The Barents Observer)