POLITICS “The Most Important Crossroad of Our Generation” Reykjavik (High North News): “Whether we like it or not, the Arctic is fast becoming a theater of global competition and militarization, and it is up to us to determine the parameters for developing this region”, said prime minister of Iceland, Bjarni Benediktsson on opening the Arctic Circle Assembly just four days after he resigned from the government.
SCIENCE “Scientists Are Natural Diplomats” Reykjavik (High North News): At this year's Arctic Circle Assembly, science diplomacy is one of the buzzwords that resonates throughout sessions, debates, and lectures. "Scientists are natural diplomats, as they care deeply about science and not so much about politics," says Jane Francis, Director of the British Antarctic Survey.
SCIENCE Dark Oxygen: A Dark Horse For the Seabed Mining Industry? Can a black lump found 4,000 meters below the surface of the Pacific Ocean throw a spanner in the works of seabed mining? Some activists hope so and call for a stop to plans to extract minerals from the deep seabeds of the Arctic.
Arctic Living / 15.10.2024 The Winners of Pan-ArcticVision 2024 On Saturday, Pan-ArcticVision 2024 – a northern twist on the…
POLITICS / 15.10.2024 Seeks to Enhance Food Security in Northern Canada The Government of Canada wants to improve food security in the North and…
Arctic Living / 15.10.2024 Will Organize Brand New Arctic Games in Greenland In February 2025, Greenland's northernmost municipality Avannaata will…
Science / 08.10.2024 Canadian Arctic and Norwegian Sea New Emission Control Areas The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted major amendments…
BUSINESS Belgium Pushes For Creation of EU-Wide Tracking System for Russian LNG EU member state officials continue discussions on how best to curb the inflow of Russian liquefied natural gas. Now Belgium has proposed an LNG tracker to ensure that existing and upcoming sanctions are effectively implemented.
BUSINESS Report: Alaska Seafood Industry Suffered a USD 1.8 Billion Loss from 2022 to 2023 In the past several years, the Alaska seafood industry has experienced a downturn and major changes. A new snapshot estimates that the Alaska fishing industry saw a 50 percent decline in profitability in the period 2021-2023.
POLITICS Arctic Chiefs of Defense Meeting in Iceland Recently, the allied Arctic chiefs of defense met in Keflavík to discuss the regional security situation and the opportunities for increased cooperation. The US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also met bilaterally with his counterparts from Norway, Sweden and Iceland.
BUSINESS Wison Modules En Route to Arctic LNG Project In Defiance of Sanctions A Chinese-manufactured power plant for a sanctioned Russian LNG project continues to…
BUSINESS Inside the Elaborate Scheme to Transport a Chinese Power Plant to Russia’s Arctic Undetected In a desperate attempt to salvage Russia’s largest liquefied natural gas project a…
POLITICS ‘Shadow Fleet’ LNG Carrier Travels Up Norwegian Coast After Failed Attempt to Deliver Sanctioned Cargo Six weeks after a sanctioned load of liquefied natural gas traveled down the…
BUSINESS Novatek Denies Involvement With Arctic ‘Shadow Fleet’, Official Records Suggest Otherwise Russia's largest natural gas producers Novatek, issued a forceful statement that it…
Arne O. Holm says An Unworthy Game Exploiting the World's Refugees Comment: Extreme right parties are on the rise across central parts of Europe. Most recently in Austria. What are the chances for the rest of Europe to hold off? And what happens when traditional democratic parties face the extreme on their home court?
Newsletter Greetings From The Saga Island Newsletter: This newsletter comes to you from Reykjavik, where we are present to cover one of the largest Arctic meeting places: the Arctic Circle Assembly. While you wait, enjoy some news from the fishery industries, security policy, and Arne O. Holm's latest comment on refugee policy. And, of course, we continue to closely follow Russian gas.
BUSINESS China-Russia Announce Plans for Five Ice-Capable Containerships for Year Round Arctic Service Russia and China's collaboration in the Arctic continues, now with new plans to build high ice-class containerships to begin year-round shipments on the Northern Sea Route. Though the details, including the size of the vessels and who will build them, remain scarce.
LNG Carriers, Oil Tankers and Container Ships Race to Beat the Winter Ice on the Northern Sea Route Oct 14 2024 - 08:55
China-Russia Announce Plans for Five Ice-Capable Containerships for Year Round Arctic Service Oct 15 2024 - 11:02
Shrinking Sea Ice Accelerates Global Warming as Black Carbon Continues to Escape Regulation Oct 16 2024 - 01:06
Op-ed Shrinking Sea Ice Accelerates Global Warming as Black Carbon Continues to Escape Regulation "Although the Arctic’s sea ice is rapidly melting with troubling repercussions for the planet, the U.N. body that regulates international shipping continues to debate rather than act on a decision made years ago to limit black carbon emissions from ships impacting the Arctic", says Arctic Policy Director at Pacific Environment Kay Brown.
BUSINESS LNG Carriers, Oil Tankers and Container Ships Race to Beat the Winter Ice on the Northern Sea Route With an unusually early return of winter sea ice shipping for low ice-class vessels will come to a halt on Russia’s Northern Sea Route in the coming days, at least officially. Some cargo, including strategically important modules for Arctic LNG 2 will continue to flow in violation of Russia’s own safety rules.
Op-ed Evidence-Based Policymaking in Pessimistic Times: Germany’s New Arctic Guidelines Op-ed: Germany introduces its new Arctic policy at the Arctic Circle Assembly. To tackle the crisis of slow-moving political action and fulfil the policy’s promise of strengthening research cooperation, more science diplomacy beyond the STEM-disciplines is needed, writes the researchers Charlotte Gehrke and Dorothea Wehrmann in this op-ed.
POLITICS The Norwegian Government Proposes a NOK 19 Billion Increase in Defense Spending With the proposed increase, the Norwegian defense budget for 2025 will total NOK 110 billion. A main priority is to make the current defense structure work with more ammunition, better preparedness, and more people. The proposed budget also includes increased investments in material, property and construction.
Arne O. Holm says The Green Pipe Dreams Torn Asunder by an Arctic Storm Comment: The Swedish battery company Northvolt is heading toward bankruptcy. In that case, it would be a gigantic setback for the European and Arctic investment in the green shift. In addition, it would be the most expensive adult education of all time.
POLITICS Svalbard in the National Budget: Electricity Support, Education and Research The Norwegian government wants to give Longyearbyen NOK 100 million in electricity support in 2025. This will probably not be enough to prevent increased energy fees, says the community council chair. However, the proposed NOK 184 million for the University Center in Svalbard will contribute to the resumption of normal activity.
Newsletter Is the Green Shift Over Before It Begun? Newsletter: It looks like the green shift in the North crashed before it had a chance to take off. We bring you budget news for the Norwegian defense and Svalbard, and we are following the quota crisis and Russia's shadow fleet closely. Here is the latest news from the North.
POLITICS Norway Implements New Sanctions, But Russian LNG Vessels Still Allowed to Stop at Honningsvåg Norway passed a new round of sanctions targeting Russia’s energy sector, including the import and transshipment of liquefied natural gas. But the latest measures do not address the continued use of Norwegian port facilities by LNG carriers in service of Russia.
BUSINESS Plans to Create Hydrogen Solutions in Narvik to Cut Maritime Emissions Likely Put On Hold The company TECO 2030 is NOK 400 million away from initiating a full-scale production of hydrogen-based fuel cells in Narvik, Northern Norway. CEO Tore Enger says the money market in Norway is "dry" for both public and private capital. He is turning his gaze toward the US and India.
Op-ed Rethinking Hybrid War and the West’s Security Interests Debate: "When a failure at US cybersecurity company, CrowdStrike, brought outages to global businesses, hospitals, airlines, and communications networks, the consequences went far beyond inconvenient flight delays", says Anita Parlow.
BUSINESS Wison Modules En Route to Arctic LNG Project In Defiance of Sanctions A Chinese-manufactured power plant for a sanctioned Russian LNG project continues to inch closer to the Arctic. Three heavy lift vessels have reached the northern Pacific and are days from passing through the Bering Strait.