The Arctic This Week Take Five: Week of March 8 and 15, 2021
New Report Published on Security Risks Posed by Climate Change in Arctic
As covered by NRK on March 17, a new report by the Center for Climate and Security (CCS), an Institute of the Council on Strategic Risks (CSR), together with the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), on “Climate Change and Security in the Arctic” concludes the risks posed by uncurbed warming include the potential for new conflicts, the breakdown of multilateral cooperation, and rising great power tensions. Sponsored by the Norwegian Ministry of Defense, the January 27 report considers both business-as-usual five-degree and rapid-response two-degree temperature increase scenarios over the next decades. To minimise regional climate security risks, the report recommends that allied Arctic nations begin to advance a “Military Code of Conduct for Arctic Forces,” or other form of renewed dialogue. (NRK, The Center for Climate & Security)
Take 1: Both security and climate change dominate concerns on the Arctic agenda. This report provides an important insight by refusing to treat the two as disparate phenomena. It is clear from this analysis that although geopolitical relations in the Arctic are already tense, climate change will only advance tensions as ice retreats and activity increases. This is not a groundbreaking conclusion. National security agencies have indicated that climate change is a possible security risk for decades. The U.S. military has named it a national priority, and even Russia considers it a security threat. However, it is significant that Norway- a much smaller country with much less military presence- is now also seriously considering these connections. Unfortunately, it seems that nations will likely continue to spend more resources targeting these security side-effects than tackling climate change itself. This report also does not acknowledge that military activity itself is a significant source of emissions. The U.S. military alone produces over 56 million tons of CO₂ annually – greater than the total of Norway’s emissions. Nevertheless, this report testifies to the serious risk of climate change, making it clear that climate mitigation is also necessary for reducing geopolitical tensions. However, we should be cautious about how to link security issues with environmental risks, which requires solutions that military cooperation alone certainly cannot provide. (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, High North News, NATO review, The Moscow Times, The Times, Wilson Center)
United States Considering the Faroe Islands as a Naval Hub
According to the Telegraph on March 10, the U.S. is considering the Faroe Islands as a potential future naval hub. This follows the recent announcement last November of a partnership agreement between the U.S. and the Danish territory on topics including environmental management, innovation, tourism, and trade. In the upcoming weeks, the foreign minister of the Faroe Islands, Jenis av Rana, will be holding what is his second meeting this year with the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. (The Telegraph)
Take 2: The U.S. is not the only global superpower now paying attention to this tiny North Atlantic archipelago; both Russia and China have become major buyers of the fish that is a cornerstone of the Faroese economy. Yet the resource that has captured U.S. interest is more strategic in nature. That it is the Secretary of State negotiating with the Faroe Islands over military activities itself indicates the geopolitical relevance of this news. The location of the islands is its own resource, as it lies in a previous naval choke point known as the GIUK gap. As stated in the 2019 U.S. Arctic defense strategy, this gap has returned as a “strategic corridor for naval operations.” In a move speculated to counter Russian military build-up in the region, Denmark decided last month to re-establish a radar station on the island that was last operable during the Cold War. Although Faroese representatives are insistent on resisting over-militarisation of their territory, they do not deny that this has brought welcome attention to a territory financially dependent on international business relations. Yet as the island is put back on the map due to these rising great power tensions, it remains to be seen for how long their choice in trading partners will fly under the radar as apolitical, and for how long these partnerships will remain to their advantage. This news therefore indicates how a changing Arctic is bringing relevance to regions previously marginalised on the world stage, but with potentially unwanted consequences. (Financial Times, Foreign Policy)
Researchers Develop New Sponge Technology for Arctic Oil Spills
As published in the journal Science Advances on March 10 and reported by the New Scientist on the same day, a team of scientists have designed a sponge that can remove hard-to-recover contaminants from Arctic industrial wastewater and oil spills. The scientists from Imperial College London and the University of Toronto designed the technology suited for ice-cold marine environments by developing new energy-efficient nanocoatings for commercially available oil-recovery sponges. (Imperial, NewScientist, Science Advances)
Take 3: When ‘oil spill’ and ‘Arctic’ appear together it usually indicates a catastrophic accident of some kind- accidents which seem to have happened with concerning frequency in the region as of late. The Arctic’s largest oil spill in Norilsk happened only last summer and just last week, on March 6, an oil pipeline burst in another Russian river. The new study is therefore a welcome respite from the problem of Arctic oil contamination, highlighting instead an improvement to a clean-up process that is traditionally expensive, complicated and itself environmentally damaging. The sponges are among the latest wave of novel inventions, including seemingly bizarre creations like magnetic soap and autonomous robots, aimed at tackling oil spills quickly and efficiently without harming marine life. While the concept behind these sponges is not new, what makes this modification innovative is that it targets the unique challenges posed by the Arctic environment. Cold water makes oil more viscous and difficult to remove. This method of recovery is therefore groundbreaking for the Arctic region where the majority of oil exploration and production is located. However, as of yet, testing of the product has still been limited. We should also be wary that the increasing availability of these efficient, non-toxic oil-recovery methods does not provide an excuse to maintain extractive industries in highly vulnerable regions like the Arctic. (Forbes, Imperial, Interesting Engineering, The Guardian)
Russian Indigenous Organisations Plead for Support from Nornickel’s International Stakeholders
The Barents Observer reported on March 11 that a coalition of Indigenous and environmental rights organisations are approaching international institutions financially involved with Nornickel in an attempt to pressure the Russian mining company to change its environmental practices. The campaign demands that the stakeholder companies, including the world’s largest chemical manufacturer BASF and the multinational Swiss investment banks UBS and Credit Suisse, address their involvement in what the activists claim is a continuous violation of Indigenous and environmental well-being. The U.S-Russian International Indigenous Fund for Development and solidarity ‘Batani’, disclosed that alongside co-organisers Russian Aborigine Forum and the German Society for Threatened Peoples they have garnered the signatory support of 35 other organisations in the action. (Arctic Today, Eye on the Arctic, The Barents Observer).
Take 4: The concerns of the activists are in contrast to the image promoted by the company supposedly paying penance for the mishap that was the 2020 oil spill in Norilsk. A disaster as bad for Russia’s reputation as for the environment, the country condemned the incident and issued a record $2bn fine to Nornickel that will be used to ‘improve the Arctic environment’. The incident also drew critical international attention to the environmental record of the company itself, with Nornickel currently on the charm offensive in response to improve its sustainable image. Yet the existence of the Indigenous communities including Nenets, Nganasan, Enets, Dolgans and Evenkis in the areas surrounding the oil spill generally seems to have gone largely unnoticed by the international community and news media. The current campaign illustrates this ongoing lack of Indigenous acknowledgement as the latest in a series of attempts by the activists met with no response or actual change. Eager to dampen any potential critical voices, Nornickel has argued they maintain a long history of close cooperation with organisations representing the interests of Indigenous communities, recently announcing a local grant competition in their support. This development is therefore both an example of the erasure of Arctic Indigenous voices, and a warning to the international audience to look behind the scenes of Russia’s attempted establishment as an environmentally and socially responsible leader on the world stage. (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, Nornickel, Reuters Events)
Inuit Community in Canadian Northwest Territories Left Without Internet for Eight Days During Blizzard
According to CBC News on March 5, a late February power outage caused residents of Ulukhaktok, a small Inuit community in Canada’s Northwest Territories to be left without internet connection for over a week during a blizzard. Residents were not able to access broadband-dependent services including ATMs and online card payments during this time. After eight days, the mayor confirmed that regional telecommunications company Northwestel had remedied the technical issue. (Cabin Radio, CBC, CBC, Eye on the Arctic)
Take 5: Although this incident may initially seem like a minor inconvenience, it speaks to the serious issue of digital inequality in the Arctic. Digitalisation has brought a new financial frontier, with investors responding to increasing global demand for data storage, keen to exploit the region’s cold climate and swaths of ‘empty’ like in Iceland. Yet the extreme conditions that attract this international digital development also create logistical connectivity challenges for its some four million residents. Despite being home to some of the world’s most cyber-advanced countries, many Arctic communities suffer from low quality and inconsistent internet coverage. As this story illustrates, it is also predominantly Indigenous communities subject to this digital exclusion. An assessment by the Arctic Economic Council found that only 27 percent of households in Nunavut have access to broadband, compared with 99 percent for Canada as a whole. Although common, isolation and extreme climate means incidents like this can be dangerous for Indigenous communities who rely on telecommunication- seen by the inability of the residents to purchase goods including food and fuel during a severe blizzard. However, more insidiously, this digital exclusion amplifies the socio-economic and infrastructural inequalities facing Indigenous communities, further limiting access to education, work, and health care. The current pandemic has particularly underscored how digital infrastructure is essential in providing health care to remote Indigenous communities. This story therefore not only illustrates the internet as an essential service, but the digital divide as a significant threat to inclusive and equitable Arctic development. (Arctic Today, Over the Circle, UN.org)