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Call for New Climate Change Solutions

The Times – As aspired as a new global climate change agreement in Copenhagen is, it has begun to seem that an agreement with almost any content is enough.

One of the world’s leading climate change scientists, James Hansen from Nasa’s Goddard Institute, has expressed his doubts on the existing emission trade system comparing it to selling indulgences. Rich countries buy emission credits from developing countries with relatively small amounts and contribute that way to the existing economic imbalance between industrialised and developing countries. The system in itself is not designed to reduce emissions, but rather to create an image of reduction and equality, though failing in both. Very few open discussions have taken place on what exactly should be the content of the new agreement and little or none public evaluation on the success or failure of the Kyoto protocol has taken place.

Recently, the UN carbon trade management body suspended Chinese wind power farm plans due to the lack of “additionality”, a condition that is required for any project to qualify as a “Clean Development Mechanism”. It is suspected that China has used the CDM system to finance projects that would have in any case been constructed, thus not adding any clean energy mechanisms through the investment into already planed energy scheme.

It is clear that before further steps are taken in global climate change discourse, the mechanisms existing today must be evaluated and new and better solutions developed to enable a real battle against the world wide problem of global warming.

December 3, 2009
Arctic Venue at Copenhagen Climate Conference

Arctic Council – During the COP15, December 7- December 18, an Arctic Venue will be held at The North Atlantic Quay in Copenhagen.

In the Venue, Arctic cooperation and the latest Arctic research will be introduced as well as the Arctic reality as it appears today to the Arctic residents presented in various exhibitions, booths, posters, lectures and debates. The Quay itself will be wrapped up as an iceberg, an installation designed by Greenlandic artist Inuk Silis Høegh.

The Venue is open daily during the COP15 between 12.00-18.00.

December 2, 2009
Children’s Climate Forum in Copenhagen

en.cop15.dk – As important as it is that the world leaders join together to find solutions to world’s most severe problems, it is also important that the generations that will carry out most of the work in future that contains in the decisions made today get to have a say and share experiences globally.

Children’s Climate Forum, a collaboration between UNICEF, the City of Copenhagen and 22 Danish school classes, brings 165 children from 44 countries to Copenhagen to share their experiences on climate change and the problems their countries are facing due to the global warming. During the Climate Forum the children debate climate solutions, concluding the experience in a resolution that will be handed to Connie Hedegaard, the COP15 President.

December 1, 2009
UN Climate Change Conference – COP15 Copenhagen

Background

One of the major international environmental and political challenges of our time is the climate change. It has been known for some time now, but for economic reasons it has been very difficult to find shared stand on what to do and how to do it. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which entered into force in 2005, is the first legally binding climate change solution that the international community has been able to agree upon.

The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol are the targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European Community for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to the limits, the Kyoto Protocol introduces three mechanisms how the targets are to be met. Primarily, the countries were to reduce the emissions through national measures, meaning that they were to take action to actually diminish their greenhouse gas pollution. But since the economies of most countries are highly dependent on industries that are high polluters, three other mechanisms were introduced to ease the reduction scheme.

The industrialized countries were given opportunity to trade emission units they themselves did not use, earn emission credits by implementing an emission-reduction project in developing countries or earn emission reduction units from a joint investment on emission-reduction or emission removal project in another industrialized country.

Major Post-Kyoto Challenges

All has come to nothing the fact being that almost all the industrialized countries that have ratified the Kyoto protocol are far from their targets for 2012. Another, and perhaps even more severe, drawback is that the biggest polluters in the world, the USA, China and India, either did not ratify the Protocol or were not categorized as industrialized countries under the Protocol thus not being under any emission reduction scheme.

The Bali Road Map, adopted in the 13^th Conference of Parties (COP) in 2007 in Bali, Indonesia includes the Bali Action Plan, which charted the course for a new negotiation process designed to create a climate change solution package for post-Kyoto era. The Bali Action Plan identified the COP 15, the upcoming Copenhagen UN Climate change Conference as the major event, where a new legally binding post-Kyoto agreement is to be enacted.

One of the major challenges for the Copenhagen Conference has been the engagement of the world’s biggest leaders. Despite the very good ratification situation, the Kyoto Protocol fails to address some of the major problems of today, namely the emergence of new industrialized powers. China has already announced that it aims at cutting its carbon emissions by up to 45 percent as measured against its economic output – a target aimed at keeping its surging growth while still reining in pollution, while India has not clearly expressed its will to cut emissions, but only to accept “deviation from business as usual”. The US, which never ratified the Kyoto Protocol has as well already announced that it is going to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 17%.

Now at the eve of the Conference many significant countries have announced their willingness to sign a binding treaty on emission reduction. The Commonwealth, a 53-member state union, has stated that a deal should be adopted no later than next year and 10 billion US dollars should be made available to help developing countries to reach their emission goals.

The COP15 negotiations start on Monday, December 7 and will be carried out throughout the two week period closing session being on Friday, December 18. In addition to the actual COP15, 5^th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 5) will also be held in Copenhagen at the same dates. Further, 31^st Session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 31), 31^st Session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 31), 10^th session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP 10) and 8th session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA 8) will takes place in Copenhagen between the December 7 and December 18.

For more information and for latest news, please visit the COP15 homepage

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3x4OnMPeCs]

November 30, 2009
Arctic Peoples
There exists no comprehensive definition on what Arctic is or where its borders lie. Different methods of defining the area give different outcomes and it is widely recognized that different regions within the Arctic vary enormously in terms of community viability, demographic, economic and social factors.

Consequently, the definition of the Arctic varies between different contexts.

In the human dimension, the Arctic covers Alaska (US), Canada north of 60°N together with northern Quebec and Labrador, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and the northernmost counties of Norway, Sweden and Finland.

In addition, the Murmansk Oblast, the Nenets, Yamalo-Nenets, Taimyr, and Chukotka autonomus okrugs, Vorkuta City in the Komi Republic, Norilsk and Igsrka in Krasnoyarsky Kray and parts of the Sakha Republic within the Russian Federation are considered as Arctic regions. (Arctic Human Development Report).

The Arctic region is within eight nation states Canada, Denmark/Greenland/Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, The Russian Federation and the United States.

Here below each Arctic state is introduced as well as the Conference of the Arctic Parliamentarians, which is a cooperation body of the parliamentarians of all eight Arctic states. Following, the Arctic indigenous peoples are introduced through their representative organs.

Arctic States
Conference of Arctic Parliamentarians

The Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region (CPAR) is a parliamentary body comprising delegations appointed by the national parliaments of the Arctic states (Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, U.S.A.) and the European Parliament. The conference also includes Permanent Participants representing Indigenous peoples, as well as observers.The first Parliamentary Conference concerning Arctic cooperation was held in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1993. The Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region, which is responsible for the work between conferences, started its activities in 1994.

The main aim of the Conference is to promote the work of the Arctic Council and it participates in the meetings of the Council as an observer. The Conference adopts a statement with recommendations to the Arctic Council and to the governments of the eight Arctic states and the European Commission. The Standing Committee closely monitors how the governments implement the Conference Statement, and take new initiatives to further Arctic cooperation.

Arctic Indigenous Peoples

The Arctic covers 40 million square kilometers or approximately 8% of the Earths surface, but hosts a population of only 4 million. Of the 4 million, various small groups of indigenous peoples, peoples who occupied the area long before the people of european tradition came, can be found. Almost all of them live today as a minority within the borders of contemporary nation states.

Only in Greenland are the Inuit in majority or 88% of the population while in Canada half of the population in the northern regions is indigenous. In Scandinavia and north-Russia, indigenous peoples are only a small fraction of the population or around 4-5%, Alaska having an indigenous population of around 20%.Despite that some 40 indigenous languages are still spoken in the Arctic, Russian, English and Scandinavian languages are the most dominant languages today. Only in Greenland is Inuktitut, an indigenous Inuit language, the only official language of the region.

In addition, Canada has just recently approved Nunavut’s proposal to declare Inuktitut, English and French the official languages of Nunavut.Arctic Indigenous peoples have been very active in promoting their rights in the international fora. The Saami in Scandinavia and the Inuit in Greenland and northern America have taken part in shaping the international law concerning the rights of indigenous peoples and participated in various international forums working for the promotion of their rights.

Permanent Participants to the Arctic Council

Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat – IPS

The Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat is a support Secretariat for the International Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations that are Permanent Participants to the Arctic Council . IPS does not speak for the Permanent Participants. Instead, it creates opportunities for the Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations to speak for themselves, and helps provide them with necessary information and materials.

IPS work includes:
- Ensuring that Permanent Participants are sent documents and reports connected to the work of the Arctic Council and its working groups.
- Helping Permanent Participants to present their views to the Arctic Council and its Working Groups.
- Collecting and communicating information about the Arctic Council and its results to the Indigenous Peoples in the various parts of the Arctic.
- Providing co-ordination for the Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations to meet with each other, and to participate in the Arctic Council Working Groups.
RAIPON:

RAIPON was created in 1990 at the First Congress of Indigenous Peoples of the North. The Association was originally called the “Association of Peoples of the North of the USSR” and united 26 indigenous groups of the North Russia. Today, RAIPON unites 41 indigenous groups whose total population is around 250,000 people. These peoples are represented by 34 regional and ethnic organizations that have the authority to represent these groups both in Russia and in the international community.RAIPON is a permanent participant at the Arctic Council. RAIPON is an observer of UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum. RAIPON is an observer of World Intellectual Property Organization’s Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore.Aiming to develop new knowledge about the interaction of actors in the High North, conducted by the Norwegian institute for defence Studies with partners and associates.

Aleut International Association:

The Aleut International Association (AIA) represents Aleut on the Russian and American Aleutian, Pribilof and Commander Islands. It is an Alaska Native not-for-profit corporation, 501(c)(3), registered in the State of Alaska, United States of America, in 1998. AIA was formed by the Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association, U.S., one of the thirteen regional not-for-profit Alaska Native corporations created as a result of Alaska Native Settlement Claims Act in 1971, and the Association of the Indigenous Peoples of the North of the Aleut District of the Kamchatka Region of the Russian Federation (AIPNADKR).

AIA is governed by a Board of Directors comprised of four Alaskan and four Russian Aleuts under the leadership of a president. The current president is Mr. Michael Zacharof of Saint Paul Island, Alaska, U.S. The Executive Director is Victoria Gofman of Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.The organization was formed to address environmental and cultural concerns of the extended Aleut family whose wellbeing has been connected to the rich resources of the Bering Sea for millennia. Russian and American Aleuts are separated by distances, borders and the International Date Line but united by the great Bering Sea and the North Pacific.

Today, not only does the Aleut community share the resources of the region but the environmental problems as well. The need to understand global processes, such as trans-boundary contaminants transport, the impacts of climate change, and the effects of commercial fisheries on the ecosystem of the Bering Sea to name a few, was an impetus in joining in the work of international fora where AIA is actively pursuing collaboration with governments, scientists, and other organizations in developing programs and policies that could improve the wellbeing of the Aleut people and their environment. AIA was admitted as a permanent participant of the Arctic Council in 1998 and was granted Special Consultive Status by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in 2004. In addition, AIA is an accredited Non Governmental Organization (NGO) with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Arctic Athabaskan Council:

The Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC) is an international treaty organization established to represent the interests of United States and Canadian Athabaskan member First Nation governments in Arctic Council fora, and to foster a greater understanding of the common heritage of all Athabaskan peoples of Arctic North America.The founding members of AAC include four Alaskan Athabaskan communities (Chickaloon Village Traditional Council, Healy Lake Traditional Council (Mendas Cha~Ag), Steven Village Tribal Government, Council, Northway Tribal Council)-and three Athabaskan representative bodies on the Canadian side-the Council of Yukon First Nations, representing eleven Yukon First Nations, the Dene Nation, representing 30 First Nations in the Northwest Territories and northern Manitoba, and Métis Nation-Northwest Territories, representing 13 communities in the Northwest Territories. In total, Arctic Athabaskan founding member governments represent approximately 32,000 indigenous peoples of Athabaskan descent residing in Arctic and Sub-Arctic North America. As more member governments from both the United States (Alaska) and Canada join, this number is expected to increase to approximately 40,000.

Gwich’in Council International

The Gwich’in Council International (GCI) was established as a non-profit organization in 1999 by the Gwich’in Tribal Council in Inuvik, NWT, to ensure all regions of the Gwich’in Nation in the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Alaska are represented at the Arctic Council, as well as to play an active and significant role in the development of policies that relate to the Circumpolar Arctic. GCI has a number of priorities that relate to the environment, youth, culture and tradition, social and economic development and education.The founding members of GCI includes six Alaskan Gwich’in communities (Arctic Village, Chalkyitsik, Fort Yukon, Birtch, Circle and Venetie) two Gwich’in representative bodies in Canada – Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation representing Vuntut Gwitchin in Old Crow, Yukon, and Gwich’in Tribal Council representing four communities in the Beaufort Delta region in the Northwest Territories. In total, the Gwich’in Council International founding members represent approximately 9,000 indigenous peoples of Gwich’in descent. The GCI Secretariat rotates between the Gwich’in Tribal Council in Inuvik, NWT and the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation in Old Crow, Yukon.

The Saami Council

The Saami Council is a non-governmental Saami organization (NGO), with member organizations in Finland, Russia, Norway and Sweden. Since its foundation in 1956 the Saami Council has actively dealt with Saami policy tasks.The primary aims of the Saami Council are the promotion of Saami rights and interests in the four countries having Saami population, to consolidate the feeling of affinity among the Saami people, to attain recognition for the Saami as one nation and to promote economic, social and cultural rights of the Saami in the legislation of the four states, Norway, Sweden, Russia and Finland. Saami Council renders opinions and makes proposals on questions concerning Saami people’s rights, language and culture.

Other indigenous organizations in the Arctic

Saami Parliaments

The Finnish Saami Parliament

The Finnish Saami Parliament was founded in 1996 by legislation (Act on Saami Parliament 1995/974). It is an independent legal entity of public law, which, due to its self-governmental nature, is not a state authority or part of the public administration. Its main purpose is to plan and implement the cultural self-government guaranteed to the Sámi as indigenous peoples under both international law and Finnish constitution. The Finnish Sámi Parliament functions under the administrative sector of the Ministry of Justice and has the capacity to make initiatives, proposals and statements to the state authorities.

The Swedish Saami Parliament

The Swedish Saami Parliament was founded in 1992 (Act 1992: 1433). It is both a public authority and a parliament chosen by the Swedish Saami population. Its main aim is to improve the Saami’s possibilities to protect and develop their culture. The Swedish Saami Parliament functions under the Ministry of agriculture

The Norwegian Saami Parliament

The Norwegian Saami Parliament is an elected representative assembly for the Saami in Norway, with representatives chosen by direct elections in 13 constituencies across the country. These elections are held simultaneously with Norway’s general elections, but are based on a separate Sami electoral register.

Inuit Circumpolar Council

The Inuit Circumpolar Council is a transnational non-governmental organization representing 150 000 Inuit across the Circumpolar North. The ICC began originally as an Inuit Circumpolar Conference, first held in 1977, and gradually evolved to become a Council in the 10th General Assembly meeting of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 2006 in Utqiagvik, Alaska. The ICC represents today four different Inuit regional organizations in Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Russia.

The Russian regional Council in Chukotka was opened 2001 and it operates closely with the Yupik Society, which represents Chukotka’s Inuit locally and nationally. The ICC Alaska consists of Inuit from the North Slope Borough, Northwest Arctic Borough, the Bering Straits Region, and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Region and the ICC Canada represents the four land-claim regions, namely Inuvialuit, Labrador, Nunavik, and Nunavut. The ICC Greenland differs from the other regional Councils, representing different organisms of the Greenlandic society instead of representing specific area within the country.

Members in the Greenlandic ICC are thus NGOs like the women’s association, political entities such as Greenland’s parliament and political parties and special-interest groups, e.g. Greenland’s workers union (SIK). The principal objective of the ICC is to create unity amongst the Inuit to be able to promote their common agenda on the international level. In addition, the ICC stresses the importance of sustainable environmental management in order to preserve the wildlife and biological diversity and recalls the right of Inuit to the natural resources in their traditional areas.

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) is the national Inuit organization in Canada, representing four Inuit regions – Nunatsiavut (Labrador), Nunavik (northern Quebec), Nunavut, and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in the Northwest Territories. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, formerly Inuit Tapirisat of Canada, was founded in 1971 to represent and promote the interests of Inuit. In its history, ITK has been effective and successful at advancing Inuit interests by forging constructive and co-operative relationships with different levels of government in Canada, especially in the area of comprehensive land claim settlements, and representing Inuit during the constitutional talks of the 1980s.

Despite successes on the land claims front, Inuit still face enormous challenges in their quest for equal opportunity and prosperity in Canada. Specifically, they want the federal government to recognize that Inuit have different concerns and needs from other Aboriginal people and to commit itself to Inuit-specific policies and programs.

The Innu Nation

The Innu Nation is the organization that formally represents the Innu of Labrador, approximately 2200 persons, most of whom live in the two Innu communities of Sheshatshiu and Natuashish. The Sheshatsiu Innu live in the community of Sheshatshiu while the Mushuau Innu live in the community of Natuashish. Some Innu also live in other communities within Labrador and on the Island part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. In order to protect their interests, their land and their rights from outside forces the Innu people first organized themselves. In 1976 under the Naskapi Montagnais Innu Association (NMIA).

In 1990, the NMIA changed its name to the Innu Nation. Today the Innu Nation forms the governing body of the Labrador Innu. In addition to the Innu Nation, residents of Sheshatshiu and Natuashish elect their own band council and the chiefs of both councils are members of the The Executive Council of the Innu Nation.

The Innu Nation’s mandate is to speak as one voice to protect the interests of the Innu people and to oversee all its political and business affairs. The Innu Nation is involved in on-going land claim and self-governance negociations with the Federal and provincial governments. As of 2006, the Innu of Labrador have been formally recognized under The Indian Act of Canada.

The Innu Nation is also involved in the social and economic development and well-being of its community

The Grand Council of the Crees

The Grand Council of the Crees is the political body that represents the approximately (2003) 14,000 Crees or “Eeyouch” (“Eenouch” – Mistissini dialect), as they call themselves, of eastern James Bay and Southern Hudson Bay in NorthernQuebec. The Grand Council has twenty members: a Grand Chief and Deputy-Grand Chief elected at large by the Eeyouch, the chiefs elected by each of the nine Cree communities, and one other representative from each community. The present Grand Chief is Matthew Mukash and the Deputy Grand Chief is Ashley Iserhoff. The Council’s head office is in the Cree community of Nemaska, although it also has offices in Montreal and Ottawa.
November 27, 2009
Arctic Cultures
The Arctic region has many faces. Historically it has been veiled by an aura of mystique, a frozen wonderland untouched by the outside and the effects of industrialization, populated by a mysterious group of people from a different phase in the history of man.

As interesting and romantic this notion may seem it holds little or no truth in the Arctic today. The Arctic is both an industrial region, as well as a region in close connection to its history and culture. A mixture of traditional subsistence activities as well as a part of the global market economy. The new and the old submerge to strenghten each other with new technology and knowledge, contributing to a cultural rejuvenation occuring in the Arctic.

Currently there is a vast amount of work being done on the internet to promote and strenghten the various aspects of Arctic cultures. Individualls, organizations, governments, scientists, indigenous groups are all contributing to this work. A small part of this work can be viewed here and links provided for further information.

Feature

Arctic Languages

Arctic Languages is a resource that strengthens Arctic indigenous languages. It includes background papers and articles related to indigenous languages, video clips of Arctic indigenous people explaining how important their languages are to them, and descriptions of current best practices in the protection and revitalization of indigenous languages.

International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry (ICR)

The International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry (ICR) was established by the Norwegian Government in 2005 in Kautokeino, as a contribution to the unique international cooperation of circumpolar reindeer herding peoples. ICR is an independent professional unit, with its own board and budget. Its activity is funded by the Norwegian Government through annual grants from the budgets of the Ministry of Labor and Social Inclusion, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

ICR is to be a knowledge base for providing and exchanging information and documentation between different reindeer peoples, national authorities and research- and academic communities at the national and international levels. The Centre will thus contribute to adding value, to improving information and to enhancing understanding for world reindeer husbandry and reindeer peoples, their traditional knowledge and their future development.

ICR’s purpose is to
- contribute in maintaining and developing a sustainable reindeer husbandry in the north
- strengthen the cooperation between the reindeer herding peoples
- document the traditional knowledge of reindeer herders
- communicate knowledge about circumpolar reindeer husbandry to our target groups
ICR’s international target groups are reindeer herders, national authorities, research, education and knowledge institutions, organizations and industrial interests. ICR has an international board with members from Russia, Norway, Sweden and Finland. The Centre enjoys wide professional and political support internationally. Its establishment was recommended by, among others, the Arctic Council, the 3rd World Reindeer Herders’ Congress in Yakutsk 2005, and the Norwegian Parliament. The Centre is a member of University of the Arctic.

ICR also hosts the secretariat of Association of World Reindeer Herders (WRH). This is a circumpolar organization representing over 20 indigenous reindeer peoples and about 100 000 reindeer herders in 9 different national states. WRH promotes professional, commercial, and cultural contact between the different reindeer peoples of the world, and disseminates information about reindeer husbandry. WRH has observer status to the Arctic Council. Through WRH, ICR has first-hand access to a unique international network of reindeer herders, their organisations and institutions.

The establishment of International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry in Kautokeino represents one measure to secure the future of this unique cooperation in the North. The Centre enjoys wide professional and political support, both nationally and internationally, and its establishment was recommended by, among others, the Arctic Council in the report Sustainable Reindeer Husbandry (2002), and by the 3rd World Reindeer Herders’ Congress in the Yakutsk Declaration of March 2005. It was also recommended by the Norwegian Government appointed committee of experts in the report published as NOU 2003:32 (Norwegian Public Report) entitled Look North! Challenges and Opportunities in the Northern Areas. The Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs announced at the 4th Arctic Council Ministerial meeting in Iceland, November 2004. Norway has decided to establish an international centre for reindeer herders in the Arctic, in Kautokeino, in close cooperation with the World Reindeer Herders. This will be a resource centre for exchange of information between herders in different countries and promoting cooperation between them».

The Arctic Is

This website is concerned with Arctic cultures and environments, with a broad comparative focus on critical issues, problems and opportunities which face the peoples of the Circumpolar North. The aim is to increase understanding and contribute to an enlightened discourse on Arctic issues across the Internet using world. These include the topics of sustainable development and community viability, social and environmental policy and contemporary human and environmental crises. Special attention is given to the causes and effects of environmental change and economic globalization, especially the impacts on community viability, flexibility of vulnerable ecosystems and cultural and biological diversity in the North.

Arctic Health

The Arctic Health website is a central source for information on diverse aspects of the Arctic environment and the health of northern peoples. The site gives access to evaluated health information from hundreds of local, state, national, and international agencies, as well as from professional societies and universities. In addition, our own always expanding Arctic Health Publications Database can help you find arctic specific articles, out of print publications and information from special collections held in the Alaska Medical Library.

The Arctic Health website is sponsored by the National Library of Medicine’s Division of Specialized Information Services and maintained by the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Alaska Medical Library.

Arctic Stat

ArcticStat is a permanent, public and independent statistical database dealing with the countries, regions and populations of the Circumpolar Arctic. ArcticStat was born out of the desire to facilitate comparative research on the socioeconomic conditions of the peoples of the Arctic by bringing together already existing data which are dispersed and often hard to find.

Isuma tv

IsumaTV is an independent interactive network of Inuit and Indigenous multimedia. IsumaTV uses the power and immediacy of the Web to bring people together to tell stories and support change. Our tools enable Indigenous people to express reality in their own voices: views of the past, anxieties about the present and hopes for a more decent and honorable future. Our sincere goal is to assist people to listen to one another, to recognize and respect diverse ways of experiencing our world, and honor those differences as a human strength.

IsumaTV uses new networking technology to build a new era of communication and exchange among Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and communities around the globe.

IsumaTV was launched in January 2008 by Igloolik Isuma Productions, independent producers of The Fast Runner Trilogy of award-winning Inuit-language films: Atanarjuat The Fast Runner, The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, and Before Tomorrow; in association with Nunavut Independent TV Network (NITV), imagineNATIVE Film+Media Arts Festival, Vtape, Native Communications Society of the NWT and other non-profit agencies.

Education

BANG

The Barents Arctic Network of Graduate Schools (BANG) brings together Ph.D. students and experienced senior scientists specialised in problematics of the Barents region, and representing various disciplines.

The main themes of BANG are:
- international cross-border transitional cooperation;
- rapid social, economic, and cultural transforms;
- resource development conflicts; and
- environmental challenges.
Students on Ice

is an award-winning organization offering unique educational expeditions to the Antarctic and the Arctic. Our mandate is to provide students, educators and scientists from around the world with inspiring educational opportunities at the ends of the Earth and, in doing so, help them foster a new understanding and respect for the planet.

University of the Arctic

The University of the Arctic (UArctic) is a cooperative network of universities, colleges, and other organizations committed to higher education and research in the North. Our members share resources, facilities, and expertise to build post-secondary education programs that are relevant and accessible to northern students. Our overall goal is to create a strong, sustainable circumpolar region by empowering northerners and northern communities through education and shared knowledge.

We promote education that is circumpolar, interdisciplinary, and diverse in nature, and draw on our combined strengths to address the unique challenges of the region. The University of the Arctic recognizes the integral role of indigenous peoples in northern education, and seeks to engage their perspectives in all of its activities.

PolarTREC

PolarTREC is an educational research experience, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and managed by the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S., in which K-12 teachers participate in polar research, working closely with scientists as a pathway to improving science education.

In celebration of the International Polar Year (2007-2009), a global scientific campaign to advance our understanding of the polar regions, thirty-six U.S. teachers will spend two to six weeks working with a research team in the Arctic or Antarctic, exploring the environments, cultures, history, and science. PolarTREC teachers will learn about cutting-edge scientific research on topics ranging from atmospheric chemistry to seabird ecology and will share their experiences with scientists, educators, communities, and hundreds of students of all ages across the globe.

PolarTREC builds on the past TREC program (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating in the Arctic) to encompass learning experiences in both the Arctic and Antarctic. Visit the TREC website for more information about the 2004-2006 TREC expeditions.
November 27, 2009
First ever Ph.D. dissertation in the University of Greenland

The first ever doctoral dissertation will take place in the University of Greenland, Ilisimatusarfik, on friday.

Katrine Kjærdgaards’ thesis discusses biblical and religious images in Greenland since 1721 and the influence of the images on the identity and mentality of the greenlandic people.

November 27, 2009
Arctic COP15 Participants

Already 65 world leaders have confirmed their attendance to the COP15 in Copenhagen in two weeks. What is, however, still unclear is whether the heads of states of the world’s top three carbon polluters – USA, China and India – will attend.

The Arctic countries are well represented in the climate change conference, since in addition of being hosted by Denmark, the conference will attract JIm Prentice, the Minister of the Environment and Michael Martin, Chief Negotiator and Ambassador for Cliamte Change from Canada and Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, Prime Minister and Svandís Svavarsdóttir, the Miniter of the Environment from Iceland. In addittion, Finland will send both the Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen and the President Tarja Halonen in association with Paula Lehtomaki, the Minister of the Environment and Jan Vapaavuori, the Minister for Housing and Nordic Cooperation.

Sweden and Norway are yet to announce their delegation, but they are as well expected to send a high-profle delegation.

November 27, 2009
President Obama in COP15

en.cop15.dk – The official homepage of the COP15 announces that the President of the USA Mr. Barack Obama will visit the Conference briefly on December 9, on his way to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

The announcement has been taken with conflicting feelings, some environmental organizations claimin President Obama undermining this way the very important agenda of the Conference. Others say, on the other hand, that his visit, though brief, demonstrates a shift in US climate policy and gives hope that a new binding solution for future emission reduction can be reached in Copenhagen.

November 27, 2009
Arctic Economies – Megaprojects

In the recent years the Arctic has gained attention due to the changes in the climate and the affects it has had on the northern environment. What is, however, less talked about is the socio-economic reality that faces people in the Arctic societies, not only because of the climate change, but also because of globalization and changes in global market economies.

It is well known that the Arctic has enormous resources of oil and gas and for the past 30 years or so, the exploitation of the northern natural resources has become more feasible than ever before, which has accumulated the initiatives of so called megaprojects in northern areas. These projects are in most cases either financed by multinational corporation or they are state funded in a form of Crown corporations or other publicly owned corporations. They have been in most cases criticized of being environmental monsters destroying or creating a risk of demolition of large areas of nature around the project. In addition, the human impact of these activities has been criticized.

Even though these megaprojects – huge in scale, both environmentally and financially speaking – are in the first place designed to produce profit for the shareholders, they have been in many cases also beneficial for the local communities “hosting” the project.

Benefits of mega-projects in the north

The largest expectations are in many cases directed to the possible employment the project will offer for the local people. In the construction phase, the project can provide significant amount of employment. In many small and remote communities, exactly unemployment is one of the major problems causing poverty and other social problems. When the construction phase is over, however, the employment opportunities also decline as low as to 150 persons for a large-scale industry, making the employment only short-term.

In addition to the employment, possible benefit from a megaproject is the income in to the community in a form of profit to the local shareholders, taxes and increase in local retail. A construction of a megaproject usually booms the local retail to manifold because of the migrant workers who come with the construction.

The possibility to directly profit from the project depends usually on the ownership of the land. Very few local companies or individuals have the money to invest in the projects in a scale that counts economically for the community. Thus, the only way for the locals to profit from the projects has been through being a shareholder or through bilateral contracts between the company and the community.

The Mackenzie Gas project is a good example of a megaproject where the local peoples of the area have had an immense impact on the project. Not only are they shareholders in the project through Aboriginal Pipeline group, but they are also participating in The Joint Review Panel for the Mackenzie Gas Project, which will assess the possible environmental and socio-economic effects associated with the proposed pipeline construction.

Third significant benefit is without a doubt the infrastructure that has to be built in and around the community to meet the needs of the project itself and the people who come with the project. Sometimes, these remote communities have not got the funding for necessary infrastructure because of their remoteness and low density in population, but since population growth – at least temporarily – is inevitable in connection with megaprojects the infrastructure has to be updated and developed.

Costs of megaprojects

Though there are some quite impressive benefits connected to the megaprojects, it must be said that the costs seem to be at least equally impressive.

Despite the scale of the projects, very little of the wealth seems to be left in the communities and the little that is left leaks in many cases back to south where it came from in the first place. Even though the local communities were shareholders in the project, majority of the profit goes outside of the area with the multinational corporations. Further, to tempt the international corporations to invest in the project, some “carrots” need to be offered. They are many times in a form of tax reliefs leading to a loss of revenue for the territory. In addition, even though the migrant workers increase the local retail, the money spent does not stay in the community, since many of the products sold in the retails are manufactured in south and imported to the community. The increase is thus often only temporary, large amount of the work force returning back home as soon as the construction phase is over, or in two to four years.

Another quite impressive cost that follows megaprojects is the environmental damage the project causes, both to the environment itself, but also to the people who live from the land.

Many of the projects are situated on the traditional lands of indigenous peoples. In many places reindeer or caribou herding is still exercised making these lands very important for the survival of the herders. If the indigenous peoples do not have an ownership over the lands, they can either loss significant herding land or in extreme cases be forced to relocate as has been done in many oil and gas fields in northern Russia. In The James Bay project environmental organizations actually managed to prevent the construction of the second phase of the project by claiming that it would cause irreparable harm both to the environment and the peoples of the area.

In addition to the leakages of wealth and environmental damages, some argue that megaprojects are often connected with large social problems in the local communities. Factors like big salaries, large migration worker populations and restlessness that the workers experience in the periodical working situations away from home add to criminal behavior and drug and alcohol abuse, which in turn can cause social problems in the community.

Mitigation of negative impacts on local residents

As has been done in the Mackenzie Gas Project, the best way to mitigate the negative impacts of megaprojects on the local residents is to involve them in the project. Best way to do that is to include them financially as shareholders as in Mackenzie so that they not only can have their say in the preparation, but can also benefit financially from the exploitation of their lands.

In connection with the Mackenzie Project, both the local and federal administrators have gone even further by initiating a seven-member joint review panel to assess the potential impacts of the project on the environment and lives of the people in Mackenzie valley. What is quite progressive is that approximately half of the panel is composed of indigenous people’s representatives from their own societies, which without a doubt increases the value of the assessment.

The possible profit income for the society enables the local people to enhance their communal infrastructure by building necessary institutions and employing staff in areas where it is most needed in that particular community. In addition, many different kinds of educational projects could be connected to the megaprojects, especially in the construction phase, where young locals could be educated in carpentry, as electricians and plumbers, teachers, midwifes and nurses – providing the community thus knowhow locally which otherwise would be sought in larger cities. These educational projects could be used to mitigate the financial leakages that occur when services are bought from outside communities.

It must also be assured that tax revenues from the projects are used to benefit the local community, even though they would be collected by the province or territory. This requires special arraignments with the government, but should not be impossible to negotiate, especially in the light of the internationally recognized special rights of indigenous peoples.

November 20, 2009