The demand for critical minerals is rising in support of the low-carbon energy transition, as well as global economic growth. Despite its hostile environment, the Arctic is a region with historic and existing mineral production. This paper assesses the potential of the Arctic to make a...

Apart from several infrastructure projects which ultimately failed, and a surprise visit by the icebreaker Xuelong off the Greenlandic capital, Nuuk, the People's Repub­lic of China has long maintained a cautious and reserved presence in the Arctic in the shadow of Russia and its fleet of...

Air pollution represents the first environmental health problem in EU. The EU Action Plan: "Towards a Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil" provides a vision for 2025, including 2030 targets such as improving air quality to reduce the number of premature deaths. In this technical report we...

This report describes how my artistic project is related to several issues in the region of the Arctic Circle. The project, which began in 2023 during a textile art residency in Norway, consists of multiple works that will eventually become a large series of artworks that aim to contextualise...

This report describes the work carried out during the Maker-in-Residency programme of the European Commission's Joint Research Center (JRC), in Ispra (Italy). The goal of the project was to design and produce an open-source board game around the topic of co-creation of knowledge on Arctic's...

The aim of this brochure is to provide an overview of the work performed by the EFICA consortium between 2018 and 2023 in support of the EU's contribution to the Joint Program of Scientific Research and Monitoring in the Central Arctic Ocean. The consortium carried out a total of six projects,...

Intermodality is regarded as one way of achieving more sustainable transport solutions. To make intermodal transport the preferred solution among shippers, it must be attractive according to the concept of generalized transport costs. An extended model for generalized transport costs is...

Russia’s war against Ukraine seems to have no immediate end in sight, the strategic competition between China and the US continues, and the expanding military cooperation between China and Russia increases the challenges facing the international community. In this context, the Arctic seems to...

Private companies are launching more rockets and satellites into space than ever before, increasing the amount of space assets and infrastructure for both civilian and military use. While these dual-use technologies, such as satellite communications, provide a wide range of essential services,...

Satellites support communications, navigation, security, search and rescue and scientific research across the Arctic. The number of satellites is growing quickly, creating opportunities for growth and development. However, the increased use of space also carries risks for national and regional...

The Russian Federation has the biggest land area in the Arctic and has been gradually expanding its definition by joining new regions and territories that previously were not considered Arctic to its Arctic Zone of Russian Federation (AZFR). In recent years, two incentivizing programmes, the...

The Arctic is a vital region that helps preserve the balance of the global climate. The Arctic environment is particularly sensitive to short-lived climate pollutants, such as black carbon, which is the most light-absorbing component of particulate matter. Ambitious policy action to reduce air...

Climate change is anticipated to have long-term and pervasive effects on marine ecosystems, with cascading consequences to many ocean-reliant sectors. For the marine fisheries sector, these impacts can be further influenced by future socio-economic and political factors. Hence, raises the need...

Sub-marine mine tailings disposal is disputed due to the uncertain long-term effects on marine habitats. As one of few countries still making concessions of sub-marine tailings disposals, Norway faces public outrage and contested social licenses to operate for mining companies. This paper uses...

This baseline study for the Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters aims to provide a comprehensive basis for the development and piloting, and the future deployment and upscaling of three Mission lighthouses: the Atlantic and Arctic Sea basin, the Danube River basin, and the Mediterranean Sea...

The retreat of the ice around the freezing waters of the Arctic Ocean is opening new waterways where shipping activity could transport commodities between continents. One of the essential products is natural gas - LNG, which is transported in large tankers from exporters to importers. This study...

Climate change jurisprudence is susceptible to transnational borrowing - it develops incrementally, and diagonally, and the decisions of lower-courts, and even overturned judgements, influence rulings in other jurisdictions. People v Arctic Oil is a full-bench judgement and decision delivered by...

Unlike his predecessors, US President Joe Biden made important decisions early in his term to enable better coordination of US Arctic policy. This includes foremost the National Strategy for the Arctic Region that was published later than planned as a result of Russia’s war of aggression,...

Climate change is transforming the planet, and the Arctic is on the front lines. Those seeking tools to slow or alter this transformation are searching everywhere. Some are looking to international treaties as potential tools. In keeping with the theme of the Big Thaw Conference, this chapter...

"Since time immemorial, the Arctic has been a white spot on the map - an ocean that was largely inaccessible for humanity. Until the very recent past, humanity was compelled to accept this inaccessibility, plain and simple. Literally, the Arctic has been white due to a metres thick permanent ice...

Due to the rapid growth in the energy demand, the natural resources in the Arctic region get the immense interest of scholars and policymakers in the context of social, political and economic aspects. However, the environmental impact of natural resource development in this region has not been...

As environmental behavior is still uncommon in developing countries and needs to be popularized, research on the factors for engaging in certain green practices is of high relevance. The aim of this study is to determine how self-interests of individuals of the Arctic zone of Russia influence...

The unraveling of the Arctic is bad enough for the Arctic itself, but it will have enormous consequences for the entire planet since the Arctic is a crucial component of the global climate system. Current policies do not provide much hope to prevent these harms. We have committed the earth to...

Collectively, Finland, Norway and Sweden have some of the most ambitious commitments for combatting climate change, with Finland’s goal to be carbon neutral by 2035, Norway’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and Sweden’s goal to have zero net greenhouse gas emissions...

The Russian Arctic is at the epicentre of economic, environmental, and social changes. At the same time, the peripheral character of the territory, its strong orientation on primary sector makes the region extremely volatile to suchlike shifts. The study concerns primary sector transformation in...

In this paper, the characteristics of persistent toxic substances (PTSs) in soil of Ny-Ålesund in the Arctic during the 10th Chinese Arctic (Arctic Ocean) scientific investigation were quantitatively analyzed. The sources and toxicity risks of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy...

Natural gas hydrate (NGH) technology holds great promise in natural gas storage and transportation. Utilization of promotor can effectively improve NGH formation kinetics. In this work, we constructed -SO3--rich hydrogel clathrate (poly(styrenesulfonate-co-acrylamide), (PSS-co-AAm)) as promoter...

One of the most important questions in business partners' collaboration is whether their strategies create a collaborative synergy and thus add market value. This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework that will be useful for scholars and practitioners in developing foresight for explicit...

While Russia remains chair of the Arctic Council until May 2023, the other seven mem­ber states have suspended their participation in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The impacts on Moscow are multiple. Politically the move sidelines a policy area where Russia still played a...

In this working paper, we explore these questions based on analysis of a dataset of mining and mineral exploration projects covering all the major commodities or commodity groups in six Arctic countries or territories - Canada, Greenland, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Alaska. We do so through an...

The formation of a competitive tourist space in the Arctic regions is expedient from the standpoint of diversification of predominantly single-industry local economies and increasing the socio-economic sustainability of local communities. However, it is extremely important that the measures...

Oil and gas extraction remains a cornerstone in Russia’s development plans for the Arctic Zone, even as there are considerable constraints on new projects. But what does it take to implement hydrocarbon-based regional development in a rent-based political economy? This paper employs a case...