Our friends in the North: UK strategy towards the Arctic
The House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee has today published its report, ‘Our friends in the North: UK strategy towards the Arctic’ Background The Arctic is now less insulated from geopolitical developments. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has…
Reindeer herders and scientists collaborate to understand Arctic warming
Predicting rain-on-snow events that turn tundra into ice could save reindeer and livelihoods The spring 2014 annual reindeer festival in Yar-Sale, a rural town on the Yamal Peninsula in Western Siberia, was a grim affair. A rainstorm followed by a…
The Arctic This Week Take Five: Week of 20 November, 2023
Planned Expansion of a Rankin Inlet Mine Not Recommended by the Nunavut Impact Review Board As CBC News reported on November 20, the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) recommended against Agnico Eagle’s proposed expansion of the Meliadine gold mine near Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, citing a potential…
What the 14th Five-Year Plan says about China’s Arctic Interests
In March 2021, during the annual session of the National People’s Congress in Beijing, the Chinese leadership formally adopted the 14th Five-Year Plan,1) marking the first time that one of China’s five-year plans directly mentions the Arctic.2) The plan, cumbersomely titled the…
Alaska communities must adapt as climate change transforms state, federal report says
Declining sea ice, thinning snowpack, thawing permafrost and other climate-driven changes are threatening the health, livelihoods and cultural practices of Alaskans across the state, according to a major new federal report. “Choose any societal issue you want — climate change is…
Norwegian Government Criticized for Failing to Support Joint Climate Statement
Storting representative for the Norwegian Socialist Left Party, Lars Haltbrekken, questions what he calls “Norway’s lack of support” for a joint climate statement during the One Planet Polar Summit in Paris recently. During Wednesday’s oral Question Time in the Norwegian parliament,…
Relief, Recovery, and Peace: Iris Ferguson on COP28’s New Theme
In a new mini-series previewing the upcoming UN Climate Summit (COP28)’s new focus on relief, recovery, & peace, ECSP Program Director Lauren Risi spoke with Iris Ferguson, the US Department of Defense’s Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Arctic and Global Resilience. Deputy…
Warming of 2C would trigger ‘catastrophic’ loss of world’s ice, new report says
Global warming of 2C would see “extensive, long-term [and] essentially irreversible” losses from the Earth’s ice sheets and glaciers, warns a new report. It would also lead to polar oceans that are “ice-free” in summer and suffering “essentially permanent corrosive…
OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities visits Norway to gain first-hand insight into the country’s management of diversity
OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov visited Norway from 6 to 10 November 2023. In Oslo, Abdrakhmanov met Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide to discuss issues pertaining to his mandate, the situation within the OSCE and ways to…
One Planet – Polar Summit: The first Summit devoted to the preservation of glaciers and poles
This first international Summit devoted to glaciers and poles aims to strengthen international cooperation to preserve the cryosphere and glacial and polar biodiversity. The major representatives of the international scientific community along with political leaders and representatives, including French President…