Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.
To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to upgrade your browser.
2021, Indigenous Peoples, Natural Resources and Governance
From the governance triangle to meta-governance Large-scale projects to extract energy resources, minerals and fish are attractive to governments as well as for local communities. They promise to bring income, employment and well-being, while concerns over social and environmental consequences of such projects are also widely known and shared. Our cases in this book-of wind power development, aquaculture and mining-represent extractive industries. Recent Arctic research has focused on the conflicts between extractivism, Indigenous self-determination and government policies (
The Extractive Industries and Society, 2019
Surveying existing literature, this article offers a preliminary assessment of the intersection of Indigenous governance and Arctic extractive industries, with a special focus on how Indigenous governance institutions position themselves vis-à-vis resource extraction in three regions: Nunatsiavut (Labrador, Canada), Greenland and Sápmi (the Sámi territory in Scandinavia). As a survey of existing scholarship, interviewing representatives of the extractive industry or Indigenous governments was beyond the scope of this article and hence, the analysis and conclusions are both preliminary and schematic. They do demonstrate, however, that the relations and strategies vary considerably and tend to depend on the degree and jurisdiction of the Indigenous self-governing authority. Further, they point to a pressing need for more detailed research in this area.
The Extractive Industries and Society, 2019
Surveying existing literature, this article offers a preliminary assessment of the intersection of Indigenous governance and Arctic extractive industries, with a special focus on how Indigenous governance institutions position themselves vis-à-vis resource extraction in three regions: Nunatsiavut (Labrador, Canada), Greenland and Sápmi (the Sámi territory in Scandinavia). As a survey of existing scholarship, interviewing representatives of the extractive industry or Indigenous governments was beyond the scope of this article and hence, the analysis and conclusions are both preliminary and schematic. They do demonstrate, however, that the relations and strategies vary considerably and tend to depend on the degree and jurisdiction of the Indigenous self-governing authority. Further, they point to a pressing need for more detailed research in this area.
A B S T R A C T The Arctic remains of great interest for extractive industry development, despite fluctuating mineral and hydrocarbon prices, and the technological and political challenges of accessing these resources. The articles in this special section explore the realities of living close to extractive industries in the Arctic; the expectations surrounding extractive projects; the nature of local and distributed benefits; and the extent to which local knowledge is incorporated into public debates. In this introduction, we consider how an 'extractivist' logic can stifle other ways for local communities to imagine the future, contrasting this with local perspectives based on sustainability and coexistence with nature. Where industrial activity takes place, local involvement in shaping an industry's 'social licence to operate' offers a counterbalance to an 'extractivist' imperative, by focusing more on equitable benefit sharing and protection of local livelihoods and the environment. We conclude that rights holders and others directly affected by industry operations can use their own knowledge to ensure that decisions are sensitive to longer-term sustainability risks, and that alternative development options are adequately considered. An empowered local civil society also has an important role in ensuring extractive industry operations are environmentally sound and compatible with existing local livelihoods.
This article takes a normative approach to explore what and how we might learn from existing indigenous governance arrangements in the Arctic and how they may contribute to the larger debates over Arctic governance and who decides. It begins with a brief exploration of the existing literature regarding co-management; particularly what some legal scholars have defined as post-Westphalian resource management as well as engaging ongoing discussions about co-management as it pertains to the Arctic. It then turns to the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission (AEWC) as a case study and possible starting point for governing newly emerging resource management issues in the Arctic. Specifically, this article will look at how the governance framework of the AEWC might be applicable for the current governance discussions regarding Arctic offshore oil and gas development. Lastly, this paper will offer preliminary reflections as to how a post-sovereign resource management approach could contribute to the broader theoretical debates concerning who owns the Arctic and who decides. Specifically it offers one possible way to envisage the future of a strengthened Arctic Council operating in a world where states are not the only actors participating in the governance of the Arctic.
Ecological Economics, 2022
This article contributes to the discussion on socio-environmental conflicts and extractive projects in the Arctic region. Fifty-three socio-environmental conflicts are analysed, using data from the Global Atlas of Environmental Justice. Based on descriptive statistics, regression and network analysis, the paper reveals that socioenvironmental conflicts predominantly overlap with Indigenous peoples' territories, from which a transversal opposition takes place, including Indigenous, non-Indigenous and international actors alike. The main commodities involved in these conflicts are related to fossil fuels, metals, and transport infrastructure. Associated large-scale extractive activities are bringing negative socio-environmental impacts at the expense of Indigenous groups, fishermen, and pastoralists, with loss of traditional knowledge and practices being significantly higher in Indigenous territories of high bio-cultural values associated to the environment. Our findings suggest that repression against activists is significantly more likely to occur in absence of preventive mobilization, and in Arctic countries with low rule of law. The chances to achieve the cancellation of a conflictive extractive project are significantly higher if dependency on natural resource rents in a country is low.
2015
Questions about First Nation self-determination and resource development were prominent in the 1970s as pressure for oil and gas development emerged across the Canadian North. In the past thirty years unprecedented changes in First Nations-state relations have occurred, including the negotiation of land claim settlements and self-government agreements. What remains unchanged however is the continued global demand for finite resources and the development of non-renewable resources on First Nations lands. In this dynamic environment, the question must be asked: are changes in governance providing First Nations peoples sufficient tools and opportunities required to meet their goals of political, economic and social well-being? Offering a view from one remote Arctic community, this paper draws on preliminary fieldwork findings to identify ways in which one self-determining First Nation in northern Canada, the Vuntut Gwitchin of Old Crow, YK, is responding to the needs of its constituent...
The Palgrave Handbook of Arctic Policy and Politics, 2019
Over 20 years ago, noted Arctic scholars Gail Oscherenko and Oran Young published a book with the compelling title The Hot Arctic. If the Arctic was hot at that time-and in comparative terms it was-it is a raging inferno now. Consider just a small subset of the issues currently at play: unchecked climate change, the largely unmoderated introduction of transformational technologies, the near collapse of traditional languages and severe cultural erosion among some Indigenous peoples, the redevelopment of Arctic spaces into playgrounds for wealthy outsiders, the rapid outmigration of northern residents, including Indigenous peoples, continued economic marginalization, the decline in harvestable wildlife, tragic levels of Indigenous suicide, local violence, HIV AIDS, and many other social, cultural and environmental challenges. There are offsetting and more positive developments, to be sure, including the rise of Indigenous internationalism, the continued success of the Arctic Council, the rapid growth in Indigenous economic development, greater stability among the Arctic non-Indigenous settlers, the continued growth of the Far Northern research and development capacity, more supportive southern interests in the region, international concern about northern ecological vulnerabilities, global interest in Arctic ecological sustainability, community engagement with renewable energy systems and the sustained rise of regional political voices. These are complex, promising and troubling times.
Cambridge University Press eBooks, 2022
Resources, 2019
International standards refer to Indigenous peoples’ right to benefit from resource development, participate in decision-making and determine priorities in development planning that directly affects them. While good practice exists in benefit sharing, Indigenous peoples still lack opportunities for a meaningful role in strategic planning. In his role as UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, James Anaya identified a ‘preferred model’ of resource development in which Indigenous peoples have greater control over planning decisions and project implementation, and consequently a more meaningful share of the benefits of resource development. This paper explores the requirements of international standards and guidance alongside different models of benefit sharing in practice by extractive industries in Arctic and sub-Arctic contexts. It is based primarily on desk-based analysis of international hard and soft law and industry standards, while also drawing on ethnographi...
2021
This book offers multidisciplinary perspectives on the changing relationships between states, indigenous peoples and industries in the Arctic and beyond. It offers insights from Nordic countries, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Russia to present different systems of resource governance and practices of managing industry-indigenous peoples' relations in the mining industry, renewable resource development and aquaculture. Chapters cover growing international interest on Arctic natural resources, globalization of extractive industries and increasing land use conflicts. It considers issues such as equity, use of knowledge, development of company practices, conflictsolving measures and the role of indigenous institutions.
Climatic change, 2024
The Arctic is one of the key regions in relation to global climate change, experiencing radical transformations in environmental governance as well as challenges in terms of its ecological protection. The region is witnessing a number of irreversible climatic shifts, such as melting permafrost, rising sea levels, contamination of the Global Ocean, and changes in the lives of indigenous people. The Arctic is a global hot spot in climate change where international cooperation (scientific, environmental, diplomatic, etc.) should be a priority to overcome existing ecological challenges. This article provides detailed analysis of these issues from cross-disciplinary perspectives, bringing insights from economics, history, anthropology, international relations, and political science from the perspective of literature on environmental regionalism. The article analyzes a selection of heterogeneous actors, many of whom have contradictory rules, norms, and priorities. Analysis of the Arctic through the lens of regional environmental governance aspires to contribute to understanding of the complexity of existing challenges and their potential solutions. This article offers an analysis of the major findings in this topical collection. It contributes to the development of cross-disciplinary approach to the studies of the Artic and outlines a research agenda.
Strategic Analysis, 2013
While oil and gas industries are already well established in Siberia and Alaska, the melting of the Arctic ice cap is opening up new areas of the High North to hydrocarbon exploration. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the Arctic is expected to hold about 22 per cent of the world's undiscovered, technically recoverable conventional oil and natural gas resources (about 13 per cent of undiscovered oil reserves, 30 per cent of natural gas, and 20 per cent of natural gas liquids). 1 Greenland waters are believed to be particularly rich in oil, and may contain reserves of up to 50 billion barrels, equivalent of Libyan oil reserves. 2 Of the Arctic Council's five member states bordering the Arctic Ocean, Russia and Norway have already submitted continental shelf claims to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. Another two member states, Canada and Denmark (on behalf of Greenland) are in the process of submitting their claims. Sovereign rights to offshore hydrocarbon reserves are key issues at stake in these claims. While some analysts see the scenario as a 'scramble' for Arctic hydrocarbons, others highlight the huge technological difficulties of oil and gas extraction in the Arctic, and suggest that territorial disputes are relatively insignificant. 3 Nevertheless, the Arctic region's substantial mineral and hydrocarbon wealth makes issues of sovereignty and governance all the more important to stakeholders, including indigenous peoples as well as states. The Arctic Council is an important forum for discussing circumpolar affairs such as resource management and environmental protection. In addition to the eight Arctic states
2021
This special collection offers an affective focus on mining and extractivism in the Nordic Arctic. The Arctic has a long history of extractivism. Depicted as a region of untapped natural plenty, it has been seen as “up for grabs”within different kinds of political regimes, but also as a pristine environment in need of protection. This history of extractivism is intertwined with a legacy of colonialism that marks the history of the Nordic Arctic as well as the Arctic more generally (Hastrup and Lien 2020, Bravo and Sörlin 2002). Despite the wide differences in political ways of approaching extractive projects, there is a consensus about the role of emotions in such endeavours: emotions should be avoided inmining issues. Instead, mining discussions should be based on facts and so-called rational arguments related to spheres such as environment, economy, development, labour market, etc. As formulated by a frustrated (and highly emotional) director of the Swedish mining company Arctic G...
Resources, 2019
The governance of extractive industries has become increasingly globalized. International conventions and multi-stakeholder institutions set out rules and standards on a range of issues, such as environmental protection, human rights, and Indigenous rights. Companies' compliance with these global rules may minimize risks for investors and shareholders, while offering people at sites of extraction more leverage. Although the Russian state retains a significant stake in the oil and gas industries, Russian oil and gas companies have globalized as well, receiving foreign investment, participating in global supply chains, and signing on to global agreements. We investigate how this global engagement has affected Nenets Indigenous communities in Yamal, an oil-and gas-rich region in the Russian Arctic, by analyzing Indigenous protests and benefit-sharing arrangements. Contrary to expectations, we find that Nenets Indigenous communities have not been empowered by international governance measures, and also struggle to use domestic laws to resolve problems. In Russia, the state continues to play a significant role in determining outcomes for Indigenous communities, in part by working with Indigenous associations that are state allies. We conclude that governance generating networks in the region are underdeveloped .
ndustry in the twenty-first century advances to ever-remoter regions, seen as ‘periphery’ from the point of view of headquarters and capital cities, while for local people these areas are the core of their world. This article investigates the encounter between communities, regulatory authorities and industry in the Russian Arctic. Using cases from Sakha (Yakutiya), we analyse how communities organise for coexistence of traditional livelihoods with big industrial projects in what we call state-led resource development. Our analysis shows the surprising room for agency that development agendas in a centralised state nonetheless leave for local people so far.
Sustainable Shipping in a Changing Arctic
2014
There have been differing visions for the future of Canada’s north and the role of resource development in Canada’s nationbuilding project. While for some, resource extraction is the ‘magic bullet’, for others there is also the fear that rather than being the solution to economic development problems, resource extraction activities may prove detrimental to the economic health of many northern communities. Beginning with the 1970s, indigenous leaders have urged the federal government to increase cooperation with local populations, especially in terms of facilitating equitable benefits of economic development, social services, education, and health, environmental protection. But there is a continuing resistance of government agencies to facilitate northern indigenous populations’ control over their resources and a general failure of those who envision the future for Canadianists more generally to engage with economic development strategies. This paper assesses recent attempts towards ...
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.