ARCTIC: Russia Out of Treaty & more – 26th Mar 2024

Bures from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Arctic Update from the 26th of March twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what’s going down North of the Arctic Circle!

Concerns arise over the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, a pivotal treaty for oceanic law and cooperation. On Monday the 18th, Nikolai Kharitonov, Chairman of the Russian Parliament Committee for the Development of the Far East and Arctic, revealed to Russian news website Izvestia that Russia is contemplating withdrawing from the Arctic section of the treaty. Kharitonov argued that despite over sixty percent of the Arctic lying within Russian territory, the treaty fails to prioritize the country’s interests. This consideration stems from suspicions that NATO members, now all Arctic nations aside from Russia, are leveraging international treaties to exert dominance over the nation in the region.

Still on Russia, days after Putin was reelected as President, on Thursday the 21st he made a statement released by the Kremlin regarding Russia’s ambitious energy projects. Putin acknowledged that the swathe of sanctions against Russia has delayed the development of Arctic energy projects but vowed they would be a success. He has asked the Russian security services to contact companies that have been banned from doing business with the country and work with them to circumnavigate the current sanctions, such as by moving business through a third-party nation like China. US officials indicated that in November there would be more sanctions targeting more companies working with Russian energy projects.

Finland’s own relationship with Russia is still very frosty. Since closing its border with Russia in January, Finland has been erecting a physical barrier between the two once-allied nations. Last September, construction began on a four-meter-high fence. On Thursday the 21st, the Finnish government announced it had allocated almost $100 million US dollars to expedite the construction of the fence along the Russian border. The project was expected to be completed in two years, but with this new funding, there are hopes that the entire fence will be up within a year, indicating that Finland doesn’t expect Russian relations to improve anytime soon.

With international tensions in the Arctic struggling so much, it’s surprising that the US has never had an official in charge of handling Arctic matters. Well, that might change soon as on Wednesday the 20th, Alaska representative Mary Perolta introduced the Arctic Diplomacy Act into Congress. If passed, it will create the position of an Arctic Ambassador, who will then handle all Arctic foreign affairs. Congress will probably appoint Arctic policy expert Michael Sfraga. The bill enjoys bipartisan support and is expected to move onto a senate vote in the coming months.

Within Alaska, the State Government unveiled an ambitious strategy to combat climate change, submitted to the federal government on Thursday the 21st. A $5 billion dollar grant the federal government introduced in September twenty twenty-three for states that create climate action plans prompted Alaska’s proposal, which prioritizes expanding renewable energy projects and enhancing building energy efficiency. Interestingly, the plan sidesteps mention of Alaska's oil and gas extraction sites, emphasizing reduced fossil fuel usage for local energy needs. With the deadline for plan submissions looming next week, the federal government will allocate the grant among qualifying states.

There’s a big pot of money going to the Norwegian Arctic too. The Norwegian government published its national transport plan from twenty twenty-five to twenty thirty-six on Friday the 22nd. Norway’s northern counties are set to receive a minimum of almost $1.7 billion US dollars, already allocated to a range of transport projects, including the building of new major roads connecting the south and north of Norway, new seaports and airports, and helping Sweden with developing a better train line from its northern mines to deliver goods to Norway and the rest of Europe. These projects aim to improve transport links in Norway’s Arctic, which is currently prone to weather and climate disruption.

There’s extra funding going around Canada’s remote Arctic. On Friday the 22nd, Dan Vandal, the Minister of Northern Affairs in Canada, announced, in a keynote address to the Arctic Energy Symposium, that about $2 million US dollars are being allocated to the Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link project in Nunavut, northern Canada. This project aims to build a transmission line of 1,200 kilometers, about 750 miles, with fiber optic cabling from southern Manitoba to Nunavut. At least five remote communities and one large gold mine will receive renewable electricity and high-speed broadband. They will no longer need to receive diesel and oil shipments for fuel, they won’t have to burn those volatile fuels that pollute their air, there won’t be oil spills, and they will be able to listen to the Rorshok podcast online. It’s a win-win situation for Nunavut that’s due to proceed in twenty twenty-eight.

Moving on, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs put out a statement on Wednesday the 20th, saying that all Danish territories, meaning Greenland and the Faroe Islands in addition to Denmark, will be immediately suspending all deep-sea mining. The UN is due to create new regulations to manage deep sea mining internationally in twenty twenty-five and Denmark has agreed to pause its own mining activities until the new regulations are agreed. This will ensure Denmark acts in an environmentally responsible manner and will be able to adjust to new UN rules when they come into effect.

Snow days, once cherished in childhood memories, are becoming rarer in the Arctic. A recent report by NASA, published on Tuesday the 19th via their Earth Observatory site, sheds light on precipitation trends in the region from nineteen eighty to twenty sixteen. The study reveals a decline in snowfall across the Arctic, with snow being replaced by rain. The study found that, on average, the Arctic witnesses an increase of two rainy days per year compared to nineteen eighty. While this may seem insignificant, snow is crucial for reflecting sunlight away from the Earth. When rainfall mixes with snow-covered sea ice, it darkens the surface, preventing sunlight reflection and instead absorbing heat, causing warming. This phenomenon is called the ice-albedo feedback loop. Climate scientists are monitoring it as we navigate our climate future.

Climate change has taken a toll on the Arctic fox, drastically reducing its habitat and food sources. In twenty twenty-four, Norway and Sweden launched new conservation initiatives to aid the species, with Finland now joining its Nordic counterparts. Metsähallitus, Finland's natural resource management enterprise, announced on Thursday the 21st that the EU has allocated approximately $2.5 million to conservation agencies for Arctic fox preservation across Scandinavia. Currently numbering 550, Metsähallitus aims to bolster the population to 1,000 by twenty thirty-five, ensuring their resilience during challenging times without human intervention.

There might be more opportunities for Arctic foxes on screen soon after the Canadian government announced on Thursday the 21st, that it is providing approximately $50 million US dollars to the Indigenous Screen Office. This funding supports and promotes Indigenous filmmaking projects across Canada. Huw Eirug, the CEO of Nunavut Film, expressed delight at the news, highlighting ongoing projects like the award-winning twenty twenty-three film Tautuktavuk and the new comedy series North of North. These productions, primarily led by Indigenous Canadians, offer opportunities for representation in an industry where they have historically been marginalized.

To know more about the history of Indigenous films going back to the 19th century check out the Indigenous Film Archive with the link in the show notes!

And to wrap up this edition, Disneyland might tell everyone it's the happiest place on Earth but the Nordic countries will disagree. The twenty twenty-four World Happiness Report was published on Wednesday the 20th and all five Nordic nations are in the top ten happiest countries just like in twenty twenty-three, with Finland number one for the seventh year in a row. As for the remaining Arctic nations, Canada is fifteenth, down from thirteenth last year. The USA is twenty-third, eight places down from twenty twenty-three. Russia is down in seventy-second place after coming in number seventy last year.

Have you ever tried to pick something with a group of people, a movie to watch, a restaurant to go to, a book to read, anything like that?.... And the process of deciding is endless, divisive, and annoying?.... Yeah, us too.

But.... there's light at the end of this particular tunnel! Rorshok has developed an app that makes deciding something within a group very easy and fun. If you'd like to be in the first group of people to try it out and give us your opinions and ideas, let us know at info@rorshok.com.

Mana!