ARCTIC: Sanctions against Russia & more – 7th May 2024

Bures from BA! This is the Rorshok Arctic Update from the 7th of May twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what’s going down North of the Arctic Circle!

Another week, another round of sanctions from the US against Russia. The US State Department announced on Wednesday the 1st that it has sanctioned a host of companies from around the world assisting the Russian energy Arctic LNG2 project. The largest company sanctioned is the Singapore-based shipping operator RedBox. According to the US State Department’s sanction report, RedBox has been defying prior US sanctions by delivering equipment from China to the Arctic LNG2 site at least five times in the last two years. As a result, the company has now been directly sanctioned, its assets have been frozen, and all vessels from RedBox will be unable to travel through territories working with the US, effectively grounding the company. This marks yet another blow to Russian energy concerns, which find the number of companies able to work with them shrinking ever more.

Even when dealing with sanctions, the future's looking good for Russian shipping. Alexey Fadeev, the Deputy Chairman of the Public Council at St. Petersburg's Committee for Arctic Affairs, told Russian news agency TASS on Friday the 3rd that the current geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East and Suez Canal are making the Northern Sea Route a priority route for shipping between Europe and Asia. This route travels along Russia’s northern coast and, as the Arctic melts, it is becoming an easier option for large cargo vessels. twenty twenty-three was already a record year for Arctic shipping and Fadeev expects the Northern Sea Route to take up to twenty percent of shipping traffic away from the Suez Canal in the coming years.

This new era of Arctic shipping will need new technologies. On Thursday the 2nd, Russian state ship operator Rosatomflot confirmed that the world’s most powerful non-nuclear icebreaker has just completed its maiden voyage through the Arctic. Rosatomflot completed the vessel, named Viktor Chernomyrdin, in twenty twenty, but after years of testing in southern waters, it has now successfully journeyed into the far north. According to Rosatomflot, the vessel will be used in remote northern waters for Arctic research expeditions, transport containers and cargo, and operate as a fire-extinguishing ship. Russia has the largest Arctic fleet in the world and continues to dominate activities in the Arctic Ocean.

Moving on, military investments in the Arctic continue to ramp up. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said at a press briefing in Oslo on Thursday the 2nd that the Norwegian Government is revising its twenty twenty-four budget to add over 700 million US dollars to the military budget for the rest of the year, taking the total military spending for twenty twenty-four to almost 10 billion dollars. A large portion of the additional funds will be going to the development of air defense systems along the Arctic border with Russia, along with funds for training, ammunition, and building maintenance.

Of course, Norway can afford to spend all this money on the military because of its oil, and the country is looking to find some more. The Norwegian oil agency Equinor revealed on Thursday the 2nd that the company is reviving two oil development projects, one in northern Norway and one in northern Canada, that were previously too expensive to complete. However, the agency believes that now they can drill into these remote oilfields. The Norwegian site will become the world’s northernmost oil field if completed. The World Wildlife Foundation is a vocal critic of the oil projects, stating that these remote oilfields run a very high risk of a disastrous oil spill and their development will only accelerate climate change in the Arctic.

Climate change is bad enough for wildlife in the Arctic, but in recent years, bird flu has been spreading, and it has claimed a new species. On Tuesday the 30th of April, scientist Christian Lydersen said that the Polar Institute in Svalbard recorded the first case of a walrus dying from bird flu. Earlier this year, the first polar bear also died of the virus, and the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research told The Barents Observer on the 30th that the main worry is the spread of the virus to other mammals, including humans. Lydersen advises people in the Arctic to report all dead animals to authorities to monitor the spread of any diseases.

Up next, Canada's north is grappling with the long-term effects of mining. On Tuesday the 30th of April, the federal commissioner of sustainable development released a report saying that the Canadian government is failing to adequately address over 24,000 contaminated sites across Canada, including over 2,500 in the Arctic. The government gave permissions to mining companies to establish mines on Indigenous lands without consent, benefiting mine owners while leaving behind polluted environments that harm local populations. The report states that addressing the contamination in two thousand five5 would have cost approximately $2 billion US dollars. However, years of neglect have now pushed the estimated cost to over $7 billion US dollars. The report presents nineteen recommendations to improve the management of contaminated sites, including transparent progress reporting and enabling Indigenous participation in site management in the North.

Speaking of Indigenous Canadians, they continue to fight for their rights. On Wednesday the 1st, the Peguis First Nation launched a billion-dollar lawsuit against the Canadian government and declared a state of emergency in its territory. For the past two decades, Peguis has experienced repeated, severe floods, and the lawsuit says that provincial and national governments have failed to respond adequately or assist with recovery and prevention efforts. The land surrounding Peguis has largely shifted from natural wetlands to farmland, eliminating natural flood prevention measures. Despite frequent protests for better treatment, the Peguis now pursue legal action to secure remediation and ensure the survival of their people.

Over the border in Alaska, the fight for increased education funding finally concluded. On Wednesday the 1st, the Alaska Senate approved a new state operating budget which includes plans to offer public schools a one-time, $175 million dollar funding bonus. When Senator Murkowski introduced this funding bill last year, the Alaska State Governor vetoed the bill, leading to mass protests by students across the state. Dunleavy told reporters on the 1st that he is now open to this funding boost and that the bill will soon be signed into law, which will boost schools across Alaska.

In other news, the freedom of the press is an essential pillar of democracy that must be monitored and strengthened. According to the twenty twenty-four World Press Freedom Index published on Friday the 3rd by Reporters Without Borders, press freedom in the Arctic is generally in good health. The Index ranks 180 countries worldwide, a panel of experts grants a score out of 100 to each nation, which evaluates the ability of the press to work within their country’s political, economic, legal, and sociocultural landscapes. Of the top five freest presses, four are Nordic nations, just like last year. Canada ranked fourteenth, up one place from last year, and Iceland eighteenth just like in twenty twenty-three, placing most of the Arctic in the top twenty. Further down, the United States is in number fifty-five, dropping ten places in a year, and Russia is all the way down in number 162, but up two places compared to twenty twenty-three.

If you want to find your country, follow the link to the full index in the show notes!

Finally this week, the past might offer a key to a healthier future. On Monday the 6th, plant biologists from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh announced that they have received over $600,000 US dollars from the EU’s science fund to extract soil from deep within the Arctic. The goal is to discover microbes that have been frozen for hundreds of thousands of years, dating back to the last time the Earth experienced such warm temperatures. These ancient microbes could hold insights into how plants and microorganisms adapted to survive past heat waves. By studying their DNA, the team aims to engineer new food crops that can thrive in the modern world, even as the climate warms.

And that’s it for this week! Thanks your joining us!

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Mana