Finland Closes Last Border Checkpoint with Russia & more – 5th Dec 2023

Góðan daginn from Keswick Village! This is Rorshok Arctic Update from the 5th of December twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what’s going down North of the Arctic Circle!

This week kicks off with escalating tensions between Russia and Finland. Over the past month, Russia has funneled hundreds of asylum seekers into Finland. To curb the influx, Finland initially shut down several of its eight border control points. On Thursday, the 30th, Finland's government decisively sealed the last border with Russia. Despite minimal migrant activity in recent days, including zero incidents on Tuesday the 28th, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo cites the "threat to public order and national security" as the driving force behind the closure. The border will remain shut for a minimum of two weeks.

Shifting our focus back to Russia, where the nation is set on ramping up Arctic shipping. The historically ice-bound Northern Sea Route, which has long been closed off due to sea ice for a significant part of the year, is now opening up more because of climate change. On Wednesday, the 29th, Alexander Novak, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, declared a bold move: by twenty twenty-four, Russia aims to navigate the Northern Sea Route year-round for the first time.

However, achieving this ambitious goal would require the construction of numerous new nuclear icebreakers to traverse the thick winter sea ice, and as of now, Russia hasn’t revealed plans for such construction. The prospect of increased boat traffic raises concerns about heightened pollution and the elevated risk of an oil spill in this already fragile region.

COP28, the annual United Nations climate conference, started on Thursday the 30th of November and will run until Tuesday the 12th of December, drawing many countries with ambitious goals to reduce climate emissions and protect endangered species. Despite Norway's portrayal of itself as an environmentally conscious nation during COP28, it faces a lawsuit from Greenpeace. On Tuesday the 28th, Greenpeace sought a court order to halt the development of three North Sea oil and gas fields, citing insufficient environmental assessments that neglect long-term damage. However, the Norwegian government says it complies with all regulations.

Shifting to Alaska, vast protected lands face jeopardy. On Wednesday the 29th, a hearing among US House Members addressed the Alaska’s Right to Produce Act bill. If passed, it would remove the block to drilling and mining for over 10 million acres of Western Arctic wildlife habitat and cancel leases in the Arctic Refuge. All three of Alaska's congress members support the bill, aiming for a vote in the Republican-led House. Republicans argued that shutting down domestic oil production would benefit autocratic regimes such as Iran and Venezuela. However, the Democrat-led Senate is unlikely to bring the bill to a vote.

In the realm of wildlife, the North American Wolverine, not the X-men mutant with sideburns, is under threat of extinction. The North American Wolverine is related to the weasel and otter but lives in the coldest regions, either on top of a mountain range or deep within the Arctic. Hunters want their thick and luscious fur, and since the beginning of the 20th Century the species has been driven almost to extinction by hunting. For decades, conservationists have fought to get federal protection for the wolverine. On Wednesday the 29th, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that wolverines are officially threatened due to the “ongoing and increasing impacts of climate change”. Though welcome, environmentalists worry this decision has come too late to save the species. There are only an estimated 300 wolverines left within the US.

If you want to learn more about them check out The Wolverine Foundation’s website. Link in the show notes!

Let’s look at the glaciers of North America now. A new paper called Mining stakes claim on salmon futures as glaciers retreat published on Wednesday the 29th says that as glaciers are melting, new undiscovered lands and rivers are emerging in the Canadian and Alaskan Arctic. Though caused by climate change, the outcome could be positive. Pacific salmon have been suffering from serious habitat loss, but the researchers believe these new rivers could replace much of this lost habitat. On the other hand, mining companies are already interested in exploring the land for precious minerals which would destroy this currently impeccable habitat. The report calls for policymakers to protect the ecology of the region.

Alaska is always on the lookout for rare minerals, and a new project aims to find them in a very unexpected source. On Tuesday the 28th, the federal government awarded the University of Alaska Fairbanks a $2 million dollar grant to determine whether seaweeds are absorbing rare-earth elements in Southeast Alaska. The project will start in March twenty twenty-four in the waters near Bokan Mountain. The US is looking for new sources of rare elements that are currently found mostly in China and Greenland. If seaweeds indeed absorb minerals, a new source of minerals that doesn’t require digging and mining in vulnerable regions may be on the cards.

In Sweden, the northern town of Skellefteå was welcoming investment in its community through the Swedish company Cinis Fertilizer and planned to start production of mineral fertilizers in a newly built factory. Unfortunately, on Friday the 1st of December, the company revealed their Swedish operations were on hold. Cinis is prioritizing the construction of a factory in Kentucky, in the US, to take advantage of new tax incentives. Cinis have pushed their plans in Sweden to twenty twenty-six and the town will have to wait for the promised jobs and investment.

This wasn’t the only bad business news to come from Europe’s Arctic this week. Freyr Battery, a Norwegian Lithium battery company, is also focusing on building a new facility in the US. Freyr has shut down its operations in Sweden and Finland.

Freyr Battery received a grant of 100 million US dollars from the EU Innovation Fund to massively expand operations in Arctic Norway and hire 1,500 people. However, Freyr will reduce operations by 50% in early twenty twenty-four. Still, on Monday the 27th, the company laid off seventy-eight employees.

Freyr Battery is building a factory in the US to take advantage of the tax incentives. The EU might ask the company to return the money.

The EU hopes to do better with its new venture in Greenland. On Friday the 1st of December, Greenland and the EU entered into a new agreement to develop sustainable raw material projects and establish the necessary infrastructure. The EU commission said that critical raw materials were important for Europe's industry and the green transition. Twenty-five of thirty-four of these materials can be found in Greenland. As these materials are currently only widely mined in China, the discovery of an alternative source in Greenland is crucial to the EU.

In Iceland, the government has tirelessly worked for decades to safeguard the Icelandic language, spoken by only around 400,000 people. There's a growing concern that the Icelandic language is slipping away in favor of English, especially as the youngest Icelanders immerse themselves in English-language digital environments. In a bold move on Wednesday, the 29th, the Icelandic government unveiled a new initiative to protect and promote their language. This initiative involves better-integrating immigrants, ramping up the development of Icelandic subtitles and dubbing in TV and film production, and expanding the availability of Icelandic as a second language beyond Iceland.

And to wrap up this edition, the Arctic is no longer the place to escape from your phone, since even the world’s most northern settlement can get a mobile signal! Ny-Ålesund on Svalbard, far into the Arctic circle, was connected to Norwegian provider Telenor’s network on Tuesday the 28th. Only about thirty people live permanently in the town and have lived without phones until now. As hundreds of researchers go to Ny-Ålesund each year, having good communication lines will improve research and environmental monitoring on Svalbard. Not everyone is thrilled and residents are debating whether they should have mobile phone-free zones.

Do you ever wonder who these Rorshok people are and why they care about what is going down North of the Arctic Circle? If so, head over to our website to find out more about us and the other things that we do! You can read all about the organization, other projects we are carrying out, and the other podcasts we do. If something catches your eye, or you have any questions, please reach out. You can find all the contact information and the website link in the show notes.

Adjo