How will climate change affect sustainable development in the Arctic? This question has motivated research, policy development, investments, and political decisions, across the globe. The future of the Arctic is a shared concern that should not be undertaken alone.
The Arctic is changing rapidly. The climate is warming faster here than in any other part of the world. The melting of the Arctic Sea ice and rising demand for commodities such as energy and minerals are creating new economic opportunities, but also new environmental, social and safety challenges.
For Norway, similar to other stakeholders, one of our most important political goals it to maintain a knowledge-based society. Collaboration between stakeholders is essential in order to achieve practical outcomes. I base this argument on a three-fold logic: (1) with opportunities, come responsibilities; (2) sustainability is interlinked; (3) partnerships matter.
Major opportunities, major responsibilities.
What was once land mainly left to its indigenous population and to generations of polar explorers has become an area of high geopolitical and commercial interest. Canada and Norway have both placed the Arctic at the top of their foreign policy agendas. Other Arctic and non-arctic states, international organizations and private actors are following suit by building significant strategies for the High North. The Arctic nations are at the stage, as well as in the front-row, of the Artic Theatre. We thus share a huge responsibility.
The most important resource in The North are the people who inhabit these vast, cold areas. Politics is ultimately about improving citizens' living conditions and ensuring their safety and security. The Arctic is home to almost four million people; many of them part of indigenous populations with unique cultures, who are vulnerable to changes in their surroundings. What happens in a country like Norway, matters in Canada, and vice versa. We are all interlinked and united by the Arctic Sea. It is therefore crucial that Arctic stakeholders continue to determine - and adhere to - a common core agenda for sustainable development.
Sustainable development is interlinked.
In 1987, the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) published Our Common Future, widely known as the Brundtland Report (in recognition of former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland's role as Chair of the WCED). The Brundtland Report defined sustainable development in several ways: ethical, social, and ecological. They were all interrelated.
Sustainable development is widely defined as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." It contains within it two key concepts: (1) "the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and (2) the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs" (Our Common Future 1987).
A key characteristic of the Brundtland commission was that the Commission wanted consultations with all sectors, including civil society, to gain a holistic understanding of the widespread effects of climate change. This was also put into practice in the recommendations for global action.
The main insight of the Brundtland commission was that there are three, interlinked, "pillars" of sustainability: social, economic and environmental. This means that environmental challenges are highly interlinked with social and economic issues. Given this trichotomy, it is important to consider that successful environmental policy is largely a matter of economics and social policy. To put this into practice requires structural changes in all sectors. Changes of this scale and magnitude require collaboration and partnership.
Our common cause: a Norwegian political priority.
The aim of the Norwegian government is to maintain Northern Norway as an innovative and stable region and thus improve conditions for its people. Some measures include high quality local education, interesting employment opportunities, and a healthy and safe environment. Improved conditions will also make the north a more attractive place to live.
Another goal of the government is to strengthen the links between research and business. Only then, can society as a whole create the best solutions for activity and determine its level within the limits of sustainability. One example within our own practice is the advancement of oil and gas exploration up north. The first LNG plant in Europe, Snøhvit, was built at 70 degrees north with the best available technology ever for the Arctic conditions. It is also important to strike a balance between old and new industries, and develop a predictable regulatory framework. Our model for integrated ocean management strives to do just this, and has been met with much interest abroad.
Arctic stakeholders cannot manage alone. Adapting to our rapidly changing environment is one of the most pressing causes of our time. Doing so, will depend on knowledge and action from all sectors of society. The Arctic states enjoy strong and reliable cooperation through the Arctic Council, and there are several multi-national research networks devoted to the broad spectrum of Arctic sciences.
The way forward.
Cooperation between Arctic stakeholders is crucial for each country's success in dealing with climate change. We are in a new era of sustainable development as the Arctic presents us with major opportunities and major responsibilities. Cooperation is the only tool to ensure ethical, social, and ecological sustainable development.
Norway, USA and Canada share the challenges and opportunities in the Arctic, together with other countries. It is therefore natural that this year's annual Transatlantic Science Week (TSW) has set Arctic matters as the headline for discussions, presentations and cooperation between science and businesses. TSW will be arranged in Canada for the second time in its 14-year history. It will be an important meeting place for politicians, scientists and industrialists. Hopefully, the conference will add to our common understanding of sustainability in the 21th century, and demonstrate how certain dimensions, like the focus on sustainable societies in the North, can be examples of excellence to be studied and shared across our northern regions.
It is increasingly relevant to stimulate this discussion both in a bilateral and multilateral sense. We must plan for our common future, and let our insight turn words into sustainable, concrete economic development that benefit the peoples of the North. Only through partnership can such goals be achieved. With these words, I invite you to join the tri-lateral North American-Norway conference on The Arctic: Societies, Sustainability, and Safety at Transatlantic Science week in Toronto 27-28 October 2014.
ALSO ON HUFFPOST:
