Authors:Bernt Arne Bertheussen Pages: 4–20 - 4–20 Abstract: The article debates the origin of rent in natural-resource based industries (NRBIs) such as fisheries, and how the rent generated can be appropriated. The Norwegian fish harvesting industry is used to illustrate the arguments. It is argued that the industry-specific institutional framework of the fish harvesting industry positively affects the competitive forces of the industry, and thereby its economic performance. Fishery management institutions create high barriers to entry for outside firms, and they dampen internal rivalry between incumbent firms. As a result, the opportunity to earn what this paper labels institutional rent arises. The article further argues that nature itself and how it is managed through, for example, harvesting rules, enables an NRBI to earn resource rent if the players get free or cheap access to the input factor, in this case fish. Finally, the article argues that it is stakeholders other than the harvesting companies that control both the institutional and resource rents, that is, the owners of the natural resource and the authorities who manage it as well as the industry-specific institutional framework. Nevertheless, neither the owners nor the authorities benefit from the industry-specific rent generated. The rent is appropriated by the capital owners and the crew onboard the boats in the form of above-normal profits and above-normal wages. Whether or not such a skewed rent distribution is considered fair and sustainable is a political issue. PubDate: 2023-01-06 DOI: 10.23865/arctic.v14.3721 Issue No:Vol. 14 (2023)
Authors:Björn Gunnarsson, Frédéric Lasserre Pages: 21–4 - 21–4 Abstract: Russian resource developers operating in remote parts of the Arctic have demonstrated over the past several years that it is feasible to extract natural resources throughout the year, and ship large quantities of raw materials with regular intervals from the Arctic to international markets; this despite very difficult operational conditions in the Arctic during both winter and spring. Several resource extraction projects are currently being implemented or planned. This study examines how the extractive companies have built up enhanced supply chain resilience and transport reliability to mitigate common Arctic risks. The companies have taken control over supply chains and adopted several precautionary and innovative infrastructure and logistics measures designed to prevent or mitigate disruption to these supply chains. Preferred logistical solutions for all of these extraction projects have developed into large package deals, where long-term production and transport of commodities, icebreaking services, and state support are all included. Western sanctions on Russia as a result of the war in Ukraine, will slow down the pace of future Russian projects in the Arctic, at least in the short to medium-term, but the sanctions are likely to increase the future significance of export terminals on the NSR, as the preferred departure points for Russian Arctic commodities on their way to selective market destinations. PubDate: 2023-01-06 DOI: 10.23865/arctic.v14.4052 Issue No:Vol. 14 (2023)
Authors:Maria Hammer Pages: 46–6 - 46–6 Abstract: New ideas are constantly being produced as a changing world demands solutions to new problems. International environmental regimes often present ideas to reduce negative human effects on the environment. Implementation of ideas has often been studied through diffusion theory, where ideas are expected to be implemented in their original version. Translation theory from New Scandinavian Institutionalism allows for an analysis of how ideas invented to solve problems change from introduction to implementation. Ideas heralded through UN processes may face a very long route from introduction to local implementation, during which the idea can become radically changed. Through a thorough study of documents, this article follows the trajectories of the idea of Ecosystem Approach (EA), from its first limited practical application in the US during the 1980s and 90s, during its travels in different United Nations fora, and ending up implemented locally through the 2006 Norwegian Barents Sea Management Plan. The novelty of this study is that the analyses cover a long timeframe combined with a focus on all the different steps of translation combined. This also allows for possible drivers of change to be identified. The results show that there are changes made to the idea to such an extent that what is finally implemented is something quite different from the original idea, and more like “business as usual”. According to the theory, discrepancies do not necessarily mean the idea has not been successful; on the contrary, ideas that can be changed may be more likely to become institutionalized. PubDate: 2023-01-06 DOI: 10.23865/arctic.v14.3478 Issue No:Vol. 14 (2023)
Authors:Ekaterina Zmyvalova Pages: 70–7 - 70–7 Abstract: The present article is a response to the call for papers focusing on the war in Ukraine and its effect on different aspects of life in the Arctic. This article sheds some light on the consequences of Russia’s partial military mobilization on the rights of Indigenous peoples. The partial military mobilization was announced by the President of the Russian Federation on September 21, 2022. PubDate: 2023-01-06 DOI: 10.23865/arctic.v14.5083 Issue No:Vol. 14 (2023)
Authors:Pauline Baudu Pages: 76 - 82 Abstract: Although the opportunity, form and level of NATO’s High North engagement have long been a matter of debate, the renewed invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its strategic implications at the global level have dragged a reunified NATO into the Arctic as a fait accompli. Yet, the Arctic is not one uniform bloc. When pondering its involvement, the Alliance should consider the particulars of each Arctic territory in its area of responsibility. The Svalbard archipelago, under the sovereignty of Norway -the most vocal advocate of NATO’s High North increased presence- is one of the Arctic areas falling under NATO’s responsibility. Global geopolitical trends, combined with Svalbard’s specific points of contention, may exacerbate the risk of conflict affecting the archipelago. This paper argues that NATO should consider the security concerns specific to Svalbard when pondering its High North involvement and highlights two elements that should be factored in the Alliance’s strategic and operational thinking over the archipelago. The first relates to the diverging interpretations of Article 9 of the Svalbard Treaty while the second lies in Svalbard’s vulnerability to gray-zone tactics due to its particular legal and geographical features. Bearing these particulars in mind, the paper provides key recommendations for NATO to adopt a tailored approach to the archipelago. PubDate: 2023-01-06 DOI: 10.23865/arctic.v14.5197 Issue No:Vol. 14 (2023)
Authors:Øystein Jensen Pages: 83–8 - 83–8 Abstract: The Supreme Court of Norway has heard the parties in a case that a Latvian shipping company filed against Norwegian authorities because the company was not permitted to catch snow crab on the continental shelf around the Svalbard archipelago. This article provides a short comment on the court proceedings, placing emphasis on the international legal questions that the Supreme Court shall decide. PubDate: 2023-02-06 DOI: 10.23865/arctic.v14.5382 Issue No:Vol. 14 (2023)
Authors:Grete K. Hovelsrud, Julia Olsen, Annika E. Nilsson, Bjørn Kaltenborn, Julien Lebel Pages: 86–1 - 86–1 Abstract: The Svalbard Archipelago has experienced a rapid increase in tourism-related activities over the past few decades. The Norwegian Government’s ambition to develop the Archipelago’s tourism industry offers multiple socio-economic opportunities. The development and scope of these tourism activities is affected by a complex governance system that entails strict environmental regulation and preparedness considerations. To understand the balance of goals across the national and international policy levels, we have mapped, reviewed, and analyzed the national and international regulations and agreements that affect tourism activities on Svalbard. The document analysis reveals the framework of natural and environmental consideration, access to areas and passage, requirements for organized outdoor activities, and regulatory tools. We discovered conflicts and internal inconsistencies in the way that Svalbard tourism has developed. It has been shaped by both economic growth and environmental preservation, without any specific business development objectives and goals or acceptable limits of environmental and social change in place. For tourism stakeholders, this might complicate any rational assessment of the balance between economic development and environmental status. The challenges we have identified are specific to Svalbard, but are likely to be similar in many other Arctic locations involved in tourism. PubDate: 2023-02-22 DOI: 10.23865/arctic.v14.5113 Issue No:Vol. 14 (2023)
Authors:Ekaterina Zmyvalova Pages: 107– - 107– Abstract: This article sheds light on Andrei Danilov’s political asylum case. Danilov is a Sámi activist who left Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine. His asylum case seems to have created a precedent; it is being processed in Norway because of his connection with the Norwegian part of Sápmi. The article also casts light on the impact of the war on the relationship between the Sámi people in Russia and the Sámi of Norway, Sweden and Finland. PubDate: 2023-02-27 DOI: 10.23865/arctic.v14.5454 Issue No:Vol. 14 (2023)
Authors:Åsa Össbo Pages: 112– - 112– Abstract: In the wake of the enthusiasm for green energy, previously contested energy and mining projects can be framed as part of a green transition. When state authorities decide to forego the standard procedural protections and the processes and forums for deliberation and local influence, it contributes to constructing green sacrifice zones. This paper compares two Swedish energy policy processes. The first is occurred during World War II and the hydropower expansion of the 1940s and 1950s. The second takes place today when wind power is expanding to increase renewable energy production. In Sweden, policymaking seems to be back to square one in the green transition, leaving out both important knowledge of the past and contemporary voices of the ongoing and probable consequences. In certain issues, such as how the recognition of the Indigenous status of the Sámi actually affects the legislative process and how to address the Indigenous rights of the Sámi, policymaking is particularly slow to adapt. The green transition industry is already affecting the Sámi, as the construction of the Nordic welfare society has done during the last century, and still does. It deepens an ongoing colonial wave that started in the 1300s. By showing how the Swedish legislative process, historically as well as currently, has neglected to involve Sámi representatives, this study points to the importance and obligation of Swedish policymaking to engage Sámi representatives in an early phase to avoid further sacrifice zones in Sápmi. PubDate: 2023-03-17 DOI: 10.23865/arctic.v14.5082 Issue No:Vol. 14 (2023)
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