ARCTIC: The Arctic Circle Conference & more – 22nd Oct 2024

Bures from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Arctic Update from the 22nd of October twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what’s going down North of the Arctic Circle!

The twenty twenty-four Arctic Circle Conference, the largest annual gathering of Arctic politicians, economists and businesses, took place from Thursday the 17th to Saturday the 19th in Reykjavik, Iceland. The UK has been a nation that is interested but not actively involved in Arctic affairs for many years, but on the 18th, Stephen Doughty, the UK Minister of State, told the conference that the new UK government had placed the Arctic higher on its priorities list than all other British governments. Doughty said that the UK will be increasing its presence in the Arctic, joining many other non-Arctic countries around the world in trying to gain a foothold in the far north.

Also at the conference on Saturday the 19th, Robert Bauer, the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, highlighted China’s growing influence in the Arctic as a major security concern. Bauer stressed the rising cooperation between Beijing and Moscow in the region as the biggest threat to peace in the global north. He recalled China’s twenty twenty-two Arctic Circle Conference pledge not to send military ships into the Arctic, a promise it broke earlier this year. Bauer called on NATO members to prepare for a future where significant military investments are essential and urged the West to cut its reliance on Russian energy and Chinese minerals.

NATO is already making moves to address its security concerns. On Thursday the 17th, NATO announced it is launching five initiatives designed to address some of the most critical areas for defense — one of these is to develop a new Arctic space defense program. Lately, Russia has been jamming satellite signals in Europe to disrupt NATO’s northern military operations. In response, NATO plans to create a new military-grade satellite communication network over the Arctic, ensuring European and American allies can rely on robust communications even at the North Pole.

Sweden announced its own new defense plans on Tuesday the 15th when its government published the Total Defence Bill for twenty twenty-five to twenty thirty. The bill commits Sweden to vastly increase its defense spending in response to growing threats from Russia in the north. Almost 20 billion US dollars have been allocated to military and civil defense, increasing Sweden’s expenditure from 1.5% of its GDP in twenty twenty-three to 2.6%.

The rest of Scandinavia is joining in the week of military development too. On Wednesday the 16th, Alexander Stubb, the Finnish President, and Jonas Gahr Støre, the Norwegian Prime Minister, held a joint press conference where they announced that the countries planned to improve their cross-border rail and road connections for military use. Key transport links into the European Arctic require traveling through both Finland and Norway, so if the two nations can share each other's roads and railways then military deployment will be quicker and easier.

Russia’s own Arctic development will depend on whether they can get their stalled natural gas industry to turn a profit soon. But, according to energy watchdog Eikland Energy on Wednesday the 16th, no vessels holding Russian gas harvested from the Arctic LNG2 project have found any buyers. There are eleven vessels holding about 1 million cubic meters of natural gas floating in the Arctic Ocean, all hoping Russia can find a country willing to buy its gas. There is a short time limit to solve this problem though as within the next month, Russia’s north coast will freeze, potentially trapping all eleven ships until next Spring.

To know more about this story, check out the Rorshok Ocean Update with the link in the show notes!

In an attempt to get around the ice problems of the Arctic, at an energy conference in St. Petersburg on Thursday the 17th, a Russian state official said that Russia is designing nuclear-powered submarines that can export natural gas. These submarines intend to load gas in ice-free regions and travel unimpeded across northern Russia, to quickly deliver gas to Asia. After the conference, Alexander Nikitin, a former Russian Navy officer and a nuclear expert, told Reuters that this plan was fanciful and that Russia did not have the technology to create such submarines.

Speaking of failing plans, Canada’s attempt to revolutionize Indigenous child welfare nationwide has stumbled. On Thursday the 17th, First Nations chiefs voted to reject the $35 billion US dollar child welfare reform deal that we’ve covered in previous episodes, reached in July with the Canadian government. The following day, the gathered chiefs voted in favor of a resolution to return to the federal government to re-negotiate the agreement. The deal would have moved all Indigenous child welfare arrangements from the federal government to their local tribal governments. Most of Canada’s over 600 tribal chiefs believed the deal was not extensive enough and lacked consultation with First Nation communities to ensure proper care for every Indigenous child.

There’s better news for Alaska’s Indigenous groups. On Wednesday the 16th, The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium announced it has received almost $75 million dollars from the federal government to help Indigenous communities grappling with hazards caused by climate change. The project’s summary states that it will serve nearly 100 Alaska Native communities and focus on three major adaptation actions, assessing future hazards, creating and sharing adaptation strategies, and providing technical assistance statewide.

In other updates on Indigenous groups, on Thursday the 17th, the Anchorage Daily News reported that Gwich’in tribes in Alaska have requested the Biden administration to establish an Indigenous sacred site in the Alaska Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In December, the refuge will hold an oil and gas lease sale, which Gwich’in tribes oppose. They believe that establishing an officially recognized sacred site would prevent oil and gas development in the region. However, other Alaskan Indigenous groups oppose this sacred site establishment. Patkotak and Iñupiaq leaders told the Anchorage Daily News that new oil and gas development would only benefit their communities with jobs, federal funding, and infrastructure development.

Next up, a recent study published on Wednesday the 16th by Florida Atlantic University has revealed a unique population of harbor seals living year-round in Alaska's Iliamna Lake, entirely within freshwater, an unusual behavior for a species typically found in the ocean. By analyzing their behavior and genetic samples, researchers discovered that this group is significantly different from other harbor seals, suggesting they could be a distinct endemic form. While further research is needed to confirm whether they represent a new species, the study recommends protecting this population due to their exceptional characteristics.

To learn more about these unique animals, take a look at the link in the show notes.

In an update to one of the year’s biggest Arctic stories, over in Iceland, the town of Grindavik is finally having its evacuation order lifted. On Wednesday the 16th, Grindavík’s executive committee announced that all restrictions on access to the town would be lifted on Monday the 21st.

As we reported on previous shows, Grindavik has had a hectic year since it was first evacuated last November due to the threat of volcanic eruption. There have since been six separate eruptions from the nearby Sundhnúkur volcano, with the last eruption ending in early September.

The town committee believes the situation is safe enough to resume a degree of normality once again. The committee confirmed that residents have been warned that seismic activity is still ongoing, so the threat of further eruptions and evacuation remains.

And to close this edition, the Arctic will soon be celebrating a new annual sporting event to bring together Indigenous communities across the north. Greenlandic broadcaster Sermitsiaq wrote on Tuesday the 15th that the Avannaa Arctic Games have been confirmed for next February. Taking place in Greenland’s northernmost region Avannaata, the competition invites athletes from Alaska, Arctic Canada and Greenland to compete in twelve different traditional cultural sports like the Eskimo stick pull and snowsnake.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

Thanks for tuning into the Rorshok Artctic update. You can find us on your Spotify, Apple podcasts and all the other platforms as the Rorshok Arctic Update.

Mana