Russia's invasion of Ukraine threatens international cooperation in the Arctic to open the climate-wide polar regions to global competition for resources and new transportation routes. All Arctic countries except Russia boycotted future negotiations on Moscow's invasion of Ukraine on March 3, for 30 years in areas rich in natural resources such as oil, gas, and precious minerals. Announced that cooperation will end. Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the United States have issued a joint statement condemning Russia's "provocative invasion of Ukraine." They suspended work at the Arctic Council, a forum for dialogue on sustainable development and environmental research in the Arctic Circle. Military and security issues are excluded from the board's duties.
Russia described a colleague's decision as "regrettable." As Russia chairs the organization until 2023, seven countries have said they will "suspend" all board meetings to seek other ways to continue the organization's activities. Suspension of the council's meetings could jeopardize three decades of unprecedented collaboration between Arctic states and Indigenous peoples.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens the Arctic Council. The Arctic Council was created in 1996, nine years after then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev launched a set of groundbreaking policies, known as the Murmansk Initiative, establishing the Arctic as a region of “exceptional peace and cooperation.” Global Affairs Canada says the Council is critical to peace and stability in the Arctic. The council has succeeded in bringing together the eight states and Indigenous peoples of the Arctic to tackle the challenges of sustainable development and climate change that concern the four million people who live in the Arctic. Six Indigenous Permanent Representatives sit at the same table as foreign ministers in setting the Council agenda. Indigenous knowledge has shaped the work of the Council and informed international treaties and conventions. For Indigenous peoples, problems caused by climate change “are not issues we can put on pause,” said Dr. Do rough, International Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), one of six Permanent Representatives and a founding organization of the Arctic Council.
Russian military action has endangered the future of the Arctic Council at a time when the region environmental threats are becoming more pressing, according to an associate professor of Political Science at UIT: The Arctic University in Norway, “Arctic climate change will become much more complicated,” he said. “As chair of the Arctic Council, Russia was in a position to demonstrate better environmental credentials to the rest of the organization. That opportunity is now gone, and the possible Balkanization of the Council may make region-wide agreements on combatting climate change exceedingly difficult,” Lanteigne said. Climate change is quickly melting Arctic sea ice. The Arctic, which is about one and a half times as big as the United States, is one of the fastest-warming inhabited regions on Earth. Melting sea ice, historically a natural barrier to Arctic shipping and development, is one of the most dramatic consequences of the climate crisis. The disappearance of the habitat for polar species such as walrus, narwhal and polar bears threatens Indigenous livelihoods and cultural traditions. As the sea ice disappears, geopolitical tensions in the Arctic will increase. As climate change facilitates access to the Arctic Circle, interest in the region's natural resources, shipping lanes, and strategic location is increasing among members of the Arctic Council's state legislature and other countries, including China. For at least 10 years, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has promoted a growing presence in the Arctic Circle. Russia has escalated its military buildup and conducted military training in the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone of Canada, the United States, and other Arctic countries. At a press conference in 2021, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei warned other countries to bet his claim in the Arctic Circle. Pressure is rising to claim lucrative trade routes. International fishing activities are also in jeopardy. Lucrative mackerel, snow crab, and other fish stocks have started to migrate to warmer oceans. In a bid to buy time to increase scientific understanding of the marine ecosystems, a moratorium banning commercial fishing for 16 years in the Central Arctic Ocean took effect in 2021. The eight Arctic countries plus the European Union, China, Japan, and South Korea signed the treaty. As the sea ice melts, pressure increases for countries to claim a favorable trade route. The North Star's route will be faster and more direct between Asia, Europe, and North America than via the Suez Canal. China is working with Russia on the "Polar Silk Road" to prepare for a partial or year-round ice-free Northern Sea Route. This could be possible by 2040, according to a report from the Copenhagen Business School. An associate professor of Political Science at UIT: The Arctic University in Norway, said the indefinite suspension of the Arctic Council would put pressure on indigenous organizations to pursue critical research. "The Arctic Council's consensus decision-making provided a platform for incorporating indigenous peoples' knowledge of land into science and policy," said Do Rough. "We must double and triple our efforts and seek out new alliances," quotes the founder of the ICC, Do Rough.
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