Non-state Actors in the Arctic Region

333 Pages·2022·8.57 MB·English

by  Nikolas Sellheim, Dwayne Ryan Menezes

Springer Polar Sciences
Nikolas Sellheim
Dwayne Ryan Menezes   Editors
Non-state
Actors in
the Arctic
Region
Springer Polar Sciences
Series Editor
James D. Ford, Priestley International Centre for Climate,
University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
Editorial Board Members
Sean Desjardins, Groningen Institute of Archaeology,
University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
Hajo Eicken, International Arctic Research Center,
University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK, USA
Marianne Falardeau-Cote, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
Jen Jackson, British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK
Tero Mustonen, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland
Marina Nenasheva, Department of Philosophy and Sociology,
Northern Arctic Federal University, Arkhangelsk, The Arkhangelsk Area, Russia
Julia Olsen, Faculty of Social Sciences, Nord University, Bodø, Norway
Springer Polar Sciences is an interdisciplinary book series that is dedicated to
research in the Arctic, sub-Arctic regions, and the Antarctic. In recent years, the
polar regions have received increased scientific and public interest. Both the Arctic
and Antarctic have been recognized as key regions in the regulation of the global
climate, and polar ecosystems have been identified to be particularly susceptible to
the ongoing environmental changes. Consequently, the international efforts in polar
research have been enhanced considerably, and a wealth of new findings is being
produced at a growing rate by the international community of polar researchers.
Springer Polar Sciences aims to present a broad platform that will include state-
of- the-art research, bringing together both science and humanities to facilitate an
exchange of knowledge between the various polar science communities. The Series
offers an outlet to publish contributions, monographs, edited works, conference
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limited to: climate change impacts, environmental change, polar ecology,
governance, health, economics, indigenous populations, tourism and resource
extraction activities. Books published in the series will appeal to scientists, students,
polar researchers and policy makers.
Nikolas Sellheim • Dwayne Ryan Menezes
Editors
Non-state Actors in the
Arctic Region
Editors
Nikolas Sellheim Dwayne Ryan Menezes
Sellheim Environmental Polar Research and Policy Initiative (PRPI)
Hambühren, Germany London, UK
ISSN 2510-0475 ISSN 2510-0483 (electronic)
Springer Polar Sciences
ISBN 978-3-031-12458-7 ISBN 978-3-031-12459-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12459-4
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Preface
The finalisation of this book occurred during the spring of 2022—the time when
Russia attacked its neighbouring country of Ukraine. Apart from directly affecting
the lives of millions of Ukrainians, this attack has also sent shockwaves through the
international community and has even led to the (temporary) suspension of the work
of the Arctic Council. The chapters in this book were all completed before the attack
and should be read against the backdrop of the status quo of Arctic governance and
relations prior to 24 February 2022.
This book is the outcome of one realisation: in all different kinds of contexts—
from resource governance, via Arctic decision-making to Arctic economies—non-
state actors themselves or the actual influence of non-state actors are frequently
mentioned. One might have the impression that one knows what is actually talked
about, but upon closer scrutiny, we have realised that it is not only us who know
relatively little about non-state actors in the Arctic, but that there is, in fact, surpris-
ingly little literature on influences beyond state governments in the Arctic. And this
is a gap that this book aims to fill, at least in part.
Needless to say, we do not claim that the contributors to this book, meaning our
editorial skills, have managed to cover all elements that are of relevance, all angles
that should be considered, or that the non-state actors in this study are in fact all
non-state actors. Instead, we hope that our efforts are contributing to further research
on this very topic and that this book is a trigger that makes research on non-state
actors in the Arctic more feasible, more interesting and simply more abundant.
Therefore, we as you, our esteemed readers, try to delve into the world of Arctic
governance, Arctic economies or Arctic resource management, identify those stake-
holders beyond nation states, and write about them. Because there is still a huge gap
to be filled.
Hambühren, Germany Nikolas Sellheim
London, UK Dwayne Ryan Menezes
v
Map of the Arctic

vii
Acknowledgements
From the perspective of an editor, it is always the contributors to a volume such as
the present who are to be thanked. Because it is them who essentially turn an idea
into reality. So, before we thank anyone else, we would wish to express our deepest
gratitude to all of the authors that have contributed to this project. Not only have
they put colour into the picture (or fruit on the tree) but they have also managed to
put up with one delay following another—not at least because of the raging Covid-19
pandemic, which has paralysed much of our world.
But we certainly could not have produced a peer-reviewed publication without
the contributions of the referees for our chapters. There are not enough words to
express how thankful we are for your efforts to make this book something more than
just a collection of thoughts: it is a collection of expertise that is approved by the
experts in the field.
We would furthermore express our deepest thank you to Margaret Deignan at
Springer who has not only been extremely supportive but also accepted our constant
apologies and deadline pushbacks, just because to make this book become reality.
Nikolas Sellheim
A book is never possible without the support of people that are part of the author’s or
editor's life. I would like to express my deepest love, appreciation and admiration to
my beautiful wife Gianna Rieb-Sellheim, who has guided and supported me through
times of hardship and who has resolutely stood by my side. You are my anchor, my
love, my life. The same can of course be said about my children, Luka and Elma,
whose undying love, humour and joy in life are a light that illuminates every path in
the dark. And not to forget Lucca Rieb, whose adolescence is a source of inspira-
tion, wonder and fun.
I would furthermore thank Hélène and Eugène Lapointe at IWMC World
Conservation Trust, Hideki Moronuki at the Fisheries Agency of Japan and Prof. Joji
Morishita at the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology for their trust
ix
x Acknowledgements
in me. Further, Prof. Akiho Shibata at the Polar Cooperation Research Centre, Kobe
University, and Prof. Reetta Toivanen at the Helsinki Institute of Sustainability
Science for supporting me; Sheryl Fink at ifaw for agreeing to write a chapter
together despite our differences, yet highlighting our common goals; Dwayne Ryan
Menezes for his support in realising this book and through his work at PRPI; the
Polar Record team; Katharina and Konstantin Sellheim; Peter Sellheim and Meike
Hullen; Werner Rieb and Jessica Rothert; and many more.
But lastly, I would like to dedicate my parts of this book to my parents. May they
rest in peace.
Dwayne Menezes
Our principal motivation behind this volume was the realisation that while much
had been written about the role and activities of the member states and observer
states in the Arctic Council, the role and activities of non-state actors in regional
cooperation and governance has been largely neglected. Yet, for the vast majority of
people around the world, one, more often than not, learns about and forms impres-
sions of the Arctic through exposure to non-state actors, whether news outlets,
think-tanks, environmental organisations, schools and universities, or even busi-
nesses. By producing and disseminating information, influencing public opinion,
mobilising action, allocating capital for investment, supporting job creation and
infrastructure development, and more, non-state actors shape the milieu in which
state actors operate and, thus, exercise far greater influence over Arctic affairs.
Without an understanding of the important role played by non-state actors, our
knowledge of the Arctic can never be truly complete, nor can our engagement with
it be truly effective.
As we set out to fulfil our vision behind this volume, we encountered numerous
challenges. By March 2020, owing to the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, the
world entered a new era of restrictions on travel and gatherings, closures and lock-
downs, tests and vaccinations, giving rise to a new vocabulary that, while common-
place now, would have seemed strange only a few years ago. This meant that where
workshops and conferences once provided the cauldrons in which Arctic stakehold-
ers from around the world could prepare their stew, their cancellation or indefinite
postponement gave way to a new reality in which the young and old, near and far,
had to adapt as quickly as possible to bringing projects to life, via email and on
Zoom and Teams, more words that have become more commonplace in our lexicon.
By March 2022, while the pandemic still raged on the horizon, a new challenge
emerged. The largest Arctic state, Russia, had invaded neighbouring Ukraine, disre-
specting its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and prompting a far greater back-
lash than the Kremlin might have expected. Within days, Russia faced waves of
diplomatic condemnations and economic sanctions, while cooperation with Russia
Acknowledgements xi
within the Arctic Council, Nordic Council of Ministers, Barents Euro-Arctic
Council and Council of Europe was suspended. The era of Arctic exceptionalism,
the idea that the Arctic was a special zone of cooperation that was to be shielded
from geopolitical developments elsewhere, had come to an end, and with it, the era
of Arctic cooperation in which the Arctic Council served as the principal intergov-
ernmental forum for regional cooperation for around 25 years. While Arctic coop-
eration might continue between the remaining seven member states of the Arctic
Council and might also resume with Russia at some point in the future, the future of
Arctic governance—Arctic Council 2.0—is unlikely to be merely a mirror image of
the past.
While both the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine might
have thrown a spanner in the works where the compilation of this volume is con-
cerned, they also illustrated on countless occasions the key role that non-state actors
play in the Arctic and, thus, only amplify the message of this volume. In times of
crisis, non-state actors are nearly always the first to respond, the first to report what
is happening on the ground, and the first to mobilise support both financial and non-
financial. At my think-tank Polar Research and Policy Initiative (PRPI), for instance,
we developed and maintained a Coronavirus Observatory, a one-stop shop to track
the spread of, and government measures introduced in response to, the Covid-19
pandemic across the Arctic and the Antarctic. We also commissioned and published
a series of expert opinions and comments on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its
implications on the Arctic as part of a new Russia-Ukraine Observatory we hosted.
Likewise, with Brexit dominating public discourse prior to the pandemic, we main-
tained a UK-Arctic Trade and Investment Observatory, a one-stop shop to monitor
the status of, and key developments relating to, the UK's trade negotiations with
Arctic and Nordic states.
Indeed, while non-state actors are capable of doing great and good things for
Arctic peoples and places, there is also a long history of non-state actors consciously
or inadvertently causing or being implicit in harm done in and to the Arctic. In light
of this complex history, it is important to note that while this volume aims to bring
to the fore the role and activities of non-state actors in the Arctic region, it does not
seek to be a hagiography that presents only one side of the story. Instead, as my co-
editor Dr Nikolas Sellheim and I have taken great pain to ensure, it is a peer-reviewed
publication meant to constitute an authoritative collection of expertise on the sub-
ject. Of course, this would have been difficult for me to achieve on my own, so I
must first convey my gratitude to my co-editor, Dr Sellheim, without whose vision
and perseverance, and to Margaret Deignan at Springer, without whose patience and
support, this volume would never have seen the light of day.
I must also thank my excellent team at Polar Research and Policy Initiative
(PRPI) for being the master craftsmen who weave the rich tapestry of our work
every single day—especially Griffith Couser, Mikhail Radkevitch, Brooks Kaiser,
Thomas Bishop, Mikkel Schøler and Justin Barnes. In addition, as PRPI turned six
in February 2022, I would like to thank some of the members of our Advisory