Circumpolar Musings: Conferences

Canadian, Greenlandic doctors talk TB prevention in Iqaluit

Amanda Graham — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:16:39 GMT

(CBC/Eye on the Arctic, 31 January 2013) -- Doctors from across Canada and Greenland are in Iqaluit this week to discuss tuberculosis in Nunavut. The territory continues to have the highest infection rates in Canada, with 100 cases in 2010, 74 in 2011 and 79 last year. Nunavut's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Maureen Baikie, said there are still a lot of TB cases in Nunavut. She said gathering experts together now will help improve the TB programs delivered in the territory. "For example, we've looked at the use of BCG vaccine, we're getting some advice on some of the new tests that are out there for TB. So all of it will be used as we examine our TB program," said Baikie. One of those programs is Taima TB, which started in Iqaluit in 2011 with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated as a partner.

UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples meets on land rights, food security

Amanda Graham — Wed, 09 May 2012 05:47:06 GMT

(Nunatsiaq News, 8 May 2012) -- This week and next, 500 representatives from the 370-million indigenous peoples who live around the world are meeting in New York at the United Nations for the 11th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples. The forum, which meets for 10 days each year, is a high-level advisory body that deals with indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, environment, education, health and human rights. Five years after the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted, a great deal remains to be done to realize the objectives contained in that landmark document, UN deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said May 7 at the opening of the 11th session of the forum. “We continue to hear stories of struggles and exploitation of indigenous peoples around the world. It is time for those stories to change,” Migiro said. “Let us instead move towards the day when indigenous peoples are heard, listened to and empowered.” Almost 2,000 indigenous participants from all regions of the world are taking part in the two-week session to advanced the rights and well-being of indigenous peoples.

The Arctic Circle: Earth's final frontier?

Amanda Graham — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 06:20:54 GMT

(Charles M. Sennott/Ground Truth via GlobalPost Blogs, 27 March 2012) -- MEDFORD, Massachusetts - The Arctic Circle is the next gold rush with eight nations holding territory in the melting tundra all vying to stake a claim to the bountiful resources that lie beneath the ice flows. Or, the Arctic Circle is the next utopia, a global commons where mankind can work together to save the environment and the traditions of its indigenous people while responsible investors harvest resources the planet will need to survive. Or, it is all of these things. The truth is that the Arctic Circle is a tabula rasa, a place where political leaders, business investors, environmentalists, dreamers and schemers are all trying to assert their will and give shape to its uncertain future. What is clear is that the Arctic Circle holds the world’s largest supply of untapped resources, particularly oil and gas, as well as rare minerals. Most economists agree it stands to become the last great emerging market in the global economy. At an extraordinary conference this week at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Iceland’s President Olafur Grimsson gathered along with more than 50 leading diplomats, politicians, academics, environmentalists and business entrepreneurs to address the foreign policy, economic, environmental and security implications in the Arctic. At the conference, titled “Voyage of Re-Discovery: Panning for Wealth in the Warming Arctic,” a general consensus emerged that the combination of a growing scarcity of resources combined with scientific breakthroughs for extracting them from the bottom of the icy waters and new pathways that are opening up due to climate change has put the Arctic at center stage in geopolitical conversation. The conference seemed to focus most sharply on the need for a precise legal and political framework for the Arctic Circle to be established by the Arctic Council, which is made up of Canada, the United States, Russia, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and Finland.

Arctic Council negotiations in Stockholm

Amanda Graham — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 08:19:51 GMT

(Sweden Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Ministry of the Environment press release, 26 March 2012) -- Close to 180 representatives from the Arctic Council's Member States, indigenous peoples and working groups will convene on 28 29 March during Stockholm Polar Week. The agenda will include one of the Swedish Chairmanship's most important tasks -- strengthening the Arctic Council. "During the meeting in Stockholm, we hope to make a number of significant decisions on the regulatory framework for the Council's new standing secretariat in Tromsö," says Sweden's Arctic Ambassador Gustaf Lind. One year ago, the Council's members decided also to develop a plan to improve the Arctic Council's strategic communication. The Chairmanship hopes to reach a consensus on the proposal now on the table. Participants will also receive a report about the ongoing activities of the Arctic Council's working groups. Several of the groups are currently involved in identifying areas in the Arctic that are particularly worthy of protection from an integrated perspective. A more in-depth discussion concerning how the Arctic Council will proceed with this is expected at the next Senior Arctic Official (SAO) meeting in November. The SAO meeting in Stockholm is the second during the Swedish Chairmanship and will conclude the round of Arctic Council negotiations before the Deputy Ministers' meeting in May. Mr Lind will tweet from the meeting in Stockholm (@sacochair). The hashtag for the week is #polarweek.

TEDx Anchorage brings TED talks to Alaska

Amanda Graham — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:03:56 GMT

(Ben Anderson/Alaska Dispatch, 23 March 2012) -- Sitting in a room listening to a lecture doesn’t sound like a good time for a lot of people. But the TED -- that’s short for Technology, Entertainment and Design -- lecture series has made a name for itself by providing riveting discussions on cutting edge science, technology, aesthetics and ethics and has attracted big personalities like filmmaker James Cameron and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Anchorage is home to its own TED series, one of many offshoots of the main program known as TEDx, signifying an independently organized, usually local event capturing the spirit of the larger TED series. On Saturday, the third-annual TEDx Anchorage event will take place with a full day of free lectures from a variety of Alaskans looking for ways to make the 49th state a better place. The event this year is being held in the Wilda Marston Theater at Anchorage’s Loussac Library, and much of the time and logistics have been donated by willing volunteers. Speakers have been nominated and then voted on by committee to find a variety of subjects and voices, all of which fall under the broad theme of “Finding our Voices.” According to event coordinator Carolyn Kinneen, there’s been more interest in this year’s event than in year’s past, especially at the event’s Facebook and Twitter pages. “When I put out the call on Twitter and Facebook for potential speakers, people responded, and a lot of our speakers eventually came from folks in the community who talked to me about them,” Kinneen said. “Multiple people proposed each one of (the eventual speakers).” Once a speaker has been nominated, a committee votes on each, eventually whittling the field down. There will be 19 speakers this year, giving talks of about 15 minutes apiece, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with periodic breaks. The event is free, so audience members are permitted to wander in and out depending on which speeches pique their interest.

Nordic Council theme session to focus on the Arctic

Amanda Graham — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:27:59 GMT

(Nordic Council News, 2 February 2012) -- The Arctic will be the theme of the first Nordic Council theme session of the year in Iceland on 23 March. The plenary debate, which will highlight Arctic issues from an environmental-, equality- and welfare perspective, will be broadcast live over the Internet from the Alting in Reykjavik. The many and complex political challenges faced in the Arctic is also one of three main themes for the Finnish Presidency of the Nordic Council in 2012. Promoting a form of development that guarantees the living standards of the Arctic people is one of the key issues. A balance has to be struck between the rights and needs of the people and protection of the fragile natural environment, particularly because global interest in exploiting Arctic natural resources is growing, as is interest in opening up Arctic transport routes. A variety of national, regional and global bodies are involved in Arctic issues. The winner of the Nordic Council Literature prize will be announced at the theme session for the first time this year. The award ceremony will be on March 22. The theme session will be held prior to the March meeting of the Nordic Council on 21-22 March.

ICC at mercury talks in Nairobi

Amanda Graham — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 05:51:52 GMT

(Nunatsiaq News, 5 November 2011) -- When negotiators from more than 120 countries worked last week in Nairobi, Kenya towards a global agreement to reduce mercury emissions, Parnuna Egede, environmental advisor to the Inuit Circumpolar Council-Greenland, was there to represent the Inuit voice in the negotiations. More than 700 representatives from governments and non-governmental organizations gathered at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi to discuss the future global treaty on mercury, which they hope to reach by 2013. That binding agreement would aim to reduce emissions of mercury to protect the environment and human health. “The pollution comes primarily from more southerly latitudes, where it is transported over long distances by winds and ocean currents to the Arctic, and then becomes concentrated in the food chain and ultimately to us. So we follow the UN negotiations closely, because the end result will have a direct effect on our health,” Egede told Greenland’s Sermitsiaq/AG newspaper. The most recent negotiations, which started on Oct. 31 and wrapped up Nov. 4, were the third of five sessions to address the release of mercury into the environment. That release occurs mainly from energy production and industrial activities, small-scale gold mining, consumer goods like cosmetics, medical instruments such as thermometers, and mercury-containing hazardous wastes from batteries and fluorescent lamps. Mercury is listed by the World Health Organization as one of the top 10 chemicals of public health concern because human exposure to mercury can damage the nervous system and cause behavioural disorders. When released, mercury persists in the environment where it circulates between air, water, sediments and soil. Mercury has toxic effects on humans and wildlife and can enter the food chain through contaminated fish. Almost all mercury found in Arctic marine mammals, seabirds and freshwater fish comes from industry far to the south, mainly from metal and cement production in east Asia, carried north by winds, ocean currents and rivers.

Vigils for missing, murdered aboriginal women to be held

Amanda Graham — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 07:01:01 GMT

(CBC News, 4 October 2011) -- Groups across the country will be gathering to remember and honour missing or murdered aboriginal women, including several communities in Yukon. The Sisters in Spirit campaign, part of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, has dedicated Oct. 4 as a day of vigil and will also hold events in nine provinces including Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec and Nova Scotia as well as the Northwest Territories. There are more than 582 missing aboriginal women in Canada, according to data released Sisters in Spirit. Jayla Rousseau-Thomas, who is co-ordinating the vigils in the Yukon, said that includes 29 from the territory. “That’s more than one per community,” she said. “That’s more than one per First Nation. That’s a lot of women who are no longer with us, who’ve been missing or remain missing or are murdered.”

Federal agency tries to write polar bear recovery plan

Amanda Graham — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:42:41 GMT

(Dan Joling/Anchorage Daily News, 29 August 2011) -- In a windowless convention center room more than a thousand miles from polar bears roaming on sea ice, marine mammal biologists gathered last week in Anchorage to work on a recovery plan for the Arctic Ocean's most famous fauna.The Interior Department three years ago listed polar bears as threatened because of the alarming rate at which sea ice, their primary habitat, is projected to disappear each summer. In the same announcement, then-Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said endangered species law would not be used to set climate policy or limit greenhouse gas emissions, a rule affirmed by the Obama administration. The determination that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will not be allowed to address the culprit for warming -- greenhouse gases emitted worldwide -- means the recovery plan will be like no other since the Endangered Species Act was signed by President Nixon 38 years ago. "The best we can do is work with our domestic and international partners to address symptoms of climate change," said wildlife biologist James Wilder, who heads the recovery plan effort, on Thursday. ... Rosa Meehan, the USFWS marine mammals manager in Alaska, said recovery plans traditionally have dealt with a very specific threat that causes habitat loss. "We don't have that," she said. "We're dealing with a projected change and it's not a directed feature, it's this climate change that all of us ... is in some way contributing to." Figuring out how much greenhouse gas melts what amount of ice, and how that equates to an effect on a particular bear, would require near impossible connections, she said. "At the end of the day, you can't say, 'Well, someone driving an SUV down in California on the highways is going to make polar bear cub 'A' live two years less," Meehan said. "There's just too many huge steps in there to make those direct connections." So instead, wildlife managers are focusing on what they can control, such as assessing the condition of polar bear populations through habitat and demographic reviews, which present their own challenges.

Iceland, Norway and Japan walk out of IWC meeting

Amanda Graham — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:42:49 GMT

(Iceland Review, 15 July 2011) -- The representatives of Iceland, Norway and Japan walked out of a meeting at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) yesterday along with representatives of other states who approve of whaling. Tómas H. Heidar, Iceland’s main representative on the IWC, told visir.is that the purpose of this move was to prevent the meeting from being legally constituted; a voting on Argentina and Brazil’s suggestion on founding a whale reserve in the South Atlantic Ocean was about to start. For IWC meetings to be legally constituted in the case of a proposal like this, representatives of at least half of all IWC members states have to be present and to be approved, 75 percent of those present have to vote in favor of it. Heidar said he believes the proposal would not have been approved but the pro-whaling member states still wanted to prevent the voting as it might increase the split between processions and cause disputes within the IWC. “In the past months we have worked towards reaching a compromise between the followers and opponents of whaling within the IWC and the atmosphere has improved significantly,” Heidar stated. He added the foundation of the aforementioned whale reserve was part of the draft of a package solution which was submitted at the IWC’s general meeting last year but the South American states wouldn’t accept any package solutions and weren’t prepared to show any flexibility in regards to whaling. Heidar said it is absurd for the states to now submit a proposal on only the whale reserve and even more absurd that they have attempted to push it through on a vote. He pointed out that Iceland and other states that approve whaling are overall against the establishment of reserves in areas where whaling is banned, unless the need for reserves has been scientifically proven, adding no scientific evidence has been submitted to support a whale reserve in the South Atlantic. The 63rd annual meeting of the IWC, which opened in Jersey on Monday, ended yesterday.

People first in Arctic?

Amanda Graham — Tue, 24 May 2011 01:39:17 GMT

(UPI, 13 May 2011) -- NUUK, Greenland - Despite international recognition of the environmental importance of the arctic, officials at a Greenland conference suggested human interests prevail. The eight-member Arctic Council agreed to its first legally binding agreement over multilateral interests in the region. With melting sea ice exposing areas thought to be rich in natural resources, Moscow is trying to convince the international community that it has a greater claim to the arctic. A 1982 convention gives bordering nations the right to extend arctic claims if the government can prove its continental shelf extends beyond a 200-mile limit. Nevertheless, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said political conflict over the region was a thing of the past, the EUobserver reports.

Swedish Minister for Trade to attend opening of Parliamentary Barents Conference in Luleå

Amanda Graham — Tue, 17 May 2011 21:40:52 GMT

(Sweden Ministry for Trade press release, 17 May 2011) -- The Swedish Riksdag, with the Speaker acting as host, has announced that the Fifth Parliamentary Barents Conference will be held in Luleå on 19-20 May. Environmentally sustainable economic growth, industry and trade, and also infrastructure, are on the agenda. About one hundred parliamentarians from Finland, Norway, Russia and Sweden will attend the conference. Minister for Trade Ewa Björling will give the opening address as representative of the Swedish Chairmanship of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council. The event is intended for members of national parliaments and representatives of counties and regions within the Barents region, as well as indigenous peoples' organisations and relevant organisations connected to the parliamentarians and governments. Sweden is organising the conference in its capacity as Chair of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council in 2009-2011. The previous conference - the Fourth Parliamentary Barents Conference - was held in Syktyvkar, Russia, in 2009 by the Russian State Duma.

Arctic nations take small step toward cooperation

Amanda Graham — Mon, 16 May 2011 17:52:14 GMT

(AP via Anchorage Daily News, 13 May 2011) -- NUUK, Greenland - The United States, Russia and other nations agreed Thursday to coordinate Arctic search-and-rescue missions, a small step toward international cooperation in a fast-changing frontier threatened by looming fights over resources and military dominion. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the agreement among the eight-nation Arctic Council highlights the growing importance of the Arctic, where climate change is creating new shipping routes, fishing grounds and oil and gas drilling opportunities. Russia, which has laid disputed claim to much Arctic territory, participated in the very limited agreement to help stranded fishermen and the like. A warming planet could open up vast amounts of wealth to be exploited, but dramatically alter life as we know it. Over the coming decades, rising sea levels are expected to change coastlines and inundate small islands, while altering the habitats of plants and wildlife. Low-lying areas from Bangladesh to Florida could be among the hardest hit. Clinton said the U.S. and the other countries would pursue new tourism, shipping and industrial avenues "in a smart and sustainable way that preserves the Arctic environment and ecosystems." She said she looked forward to "continued collaboration in the years to come." The United States has said it wants the cooperation pact with Russia, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland to be a template for agreement on more pressing national security issues. ... The biennial Arctic Council meeting is tiptoeing around the tougher questions of territorial claims, while looking at ways to lessen the effect of greenhouse gases that are making the Arctic region warm faster than the rest of the world.

Secretary Clinton signs Arctic search and rescue agreement with other Arctic nations

Amanda Graham — Mon, 16 May 2011 17:58:27 GMT

(US Department of State, Office of the Spokesman press release, 12 May 2011) -- On May 12, 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joined representatives of the other seven Member States of the Arctic Council (Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, and Sweden) in signing an Agreement on Cooperation on Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) in the Arctic (Agreement). The Agreement is the first legally binding instrument negotiated under the auspices of the Arctic Council. It coordinates life-saving international maritime and aeronautical SAR coverage and response among the Arctic States across an area of about 13 million square miles in the Arctic. The SAR Agreement will improve search and rescue response in the Arctic by committing all Parties to coordinate appropriate assistance to those in distress and to cooperate with each other in undertaking SAR operations. For each Party, the Agreement defines an area of the Arctic in which it will have lead responsibility in organizing responses to SAR incidents, both large and small. Parties to the Agreement commit to provide SAR assistance regardless of the nationality or status of persons who may need it. The Arctic Council launched this initiative at its 2009 Ministerial Meeting in Tromsø, Norway, establishing a Task Force, co-chaired by the United States and the Russian Federation. The Task Force proceeded in a highly collaborative spirit, meeting five times (in Washington, Moscow, Oslo, Helsinki and Reykjavik). The signature of the SAR Agreement in Nuuk is a positive step toward building partnerships in the Arctic. In particular, it reflects the commitment of the Arctic Council States to enhance their cooperation and offer responsible assistance to those involved in accidents in one of the harshest environments on Earth. This Agreement illustrates one of the most successful negotiations to date to address emerging issues in the Arctic. Arctic Council participants approached SAR negotiations with collaboration and dedication to a positive outcome. The United States congratulates its colleagues in this effort and looks forward to further collaboration on the vital issues facing the rich but fragile Arctic region.

Northern nations gear up for Arctic Council meet

Amanda Graham — Fri, 06 May 2011 04:04:46 GMT

(CBC News, 5 May 2011) -- Arctic search and rescue and the environment will be among the topics that leaders from eight northern nations, including Canada, are set to discuss in Nuuk, Greenland, next week. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are among the high-level leaders who are expected to attend the Arctic Council's ministerial meeting next Thursday. The Canadian government has yet to say who will represent Canada at the ministers' meeting. The most recent foreign affairs minister, Lawrence Cannon, lost his seat in Monday's federal election. Representatives from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland will also be in Nuuk. Senior Arctic officials will meet before the ministers, starting on Monday. Many items are on the Nuuk meeting agenda, including the signing of an Arctic search and rescue coordination treaty. The treaty will require member nations to co-ordinate with each other in the event of a plane crash, cruise ship sinking, big oil spill or other major disaster in the Arctic. Once signed, the treaty will become the first legally binding agreement to be reached by the Arctic Council's eight member countries.

At Arctic science conference, climate experts told to 'stop speaking in code'

Amanda Graham — Thu, 05 May 2011 07:38:52 GMT

(Associated Press, 4 May 2011) -- COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Scientists at a major conference on Arctic warming were told Wednesday to use plain language to explain the dramatic melt in the region to a world reluctant to take action against climate change. An authoritative report released at the meeting of nearly 400 scientists in Copenhagen showed melting ice in the Arctic could help raise global sea levels by as much as 5 feet this century, much higher than earlier projections. James White, of the University of Colorado at Boulder, told fellow researchers to use simple words and focus on the big picture when describing their research to a wider audience. Focusing too much on details could blur the basic science, he said: “If you put more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, it will get warmer.” Prominent U.S. climate scientist Robert Corell said researchers must try to reach out to all parts of society to spread awareness of the global implications of the Arctic melt. “Stop speaking in code. Rather than ‘anthropogenic,’ you could say ‘human caused,’” Corell said. The Arctic has been warming twice as fast as the global average in recent decades, and the latest five-year period is the warmest since measurements began in the 19th century, according to the report by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program — a scientific body set up by the eight Arctic rim countries. The report emphasized “the need for greater urgency” in combating global warming. But nations remain bogged down in their two-decade-long talks on reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. The World Bank’s special envoy for climate change, Andrew Steer, said the new findings “are a cause for great concern.” The sea rise will affect millions in both rich and poor countries, but would particularly affect the poor, he said, because “they tend to live in the lowest lying land and have the fewest resources to adapt.”

Nuuk prepares to welcome ministers

Amanda Graham — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 22:01:09 GMT

(Arctic Council News, 27 April 2011) -- The 7th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting is fast approaching. The meeting takes place in Katuaq, the Nuuk Cultural Center, on 12 May 2011. On the Ministerial agenda are items such as "Challenges and opportunities for the Arctic Council in a changing Arctic" and signing of two important documents; the Nuuk Declaration and the Search and Rescue (SAR) agreement. See final draft agenda here. The Nuuk Declaration is the Ministers' common statement on the work of the Arctic Council, which outlines the direction for the incoming Swedish chairmanship. The SAR agreement, which will be the first ever legally binding agreement among the Arctic states negotiated under the auspices of the Arctic Council, will strengthen the cooperation on search and rescue between the Arctic States. The Ministers will also welcome various new reports from the Arctic Council Working Groups, including a major report on Snow, Water, Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic, that emphasizes the need for increasing Arctic resilience. Other reports deal with mercury and short lived climate forcers (soot). A photo exhibit, 'Views from Greenland', will be presented at the meeting venue. The exhibition shows the results of a photo competition that ran from 8 till 29 April 2011. In the competition, the people of Greenland were encouraged to send photos representing their views on climate, health and living conditions in Arctic. More than 200 pictures were received from photographers from all over Greenland who wanted to make sure the Arctic Council became aware of their opinion.

Nordic Council, EU and Russia meet to tackle development issues in the Arctic and Barents region

Amanda Graham — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 22:14:50 GMT

(Nordic Council of Ministers, 17 February 2011) -- The Nordic and Baltic countries meet February 22 with Russia and the EU, as well as representatives from the Arctic and Barents regions, to tackle issues such as the pollution of the Baltic Sea, improvement of the Northern Axis transportation corridor linking Europe and Asia, as well as energy policy and other matters of common concern. Politicians from the Nordic and Baltic region as well as the Arctic and Barents area meet with representatives from the Russian Duma and the European Parliament for the second Northern Dimension Parliamentary Forum on February 22-23. The Forum will take place in Tromsø, Norway and is hosted by the Norwegian Parliament. Politicians present include representatives of the Saami population and the indigenous peoples of the Arctic region. The Northern Dimension Partnership includes four pillars: environmental issues, health and social issues, transport and culture. Negotiations will take place in all four areas, resulting in policy recommendations for the relevant national governments of all the parties involved. The first Northern Dimension Parliamentary Forum was hosted by the European Parliament in 2009. The Forum has been instituted to improve cooperation and development in Northern Europe and the Arctic. More information.

Conference emphasizes new technology for learning Inupiaq language [mp3]

Amanda Graham — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 03:44:16 GMT

(Jake Neher, KBRW – Barrow via APRN, 22 Novembern 2010) -- Hundreds of people from across the North Slope gathered at the Inupiat Heritage Center in Barrow for the annual Elders and Youth Conference last week. The emphasis this year was on new technologies to promote learning the Inupiaq language. A trial version of the upcoming Rosetta Stone software for Inupiaq was used for the first time at the conference.

Nordic neighbours celebrate anniversary of partnership in Arkhangelsk

Amanda Graham — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 21:10:34 GMT

(Nordic Council News, 22 November 2010) -- The Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers will be opening the Nordic Week in Archangel on 23 November and visiting Moscow for talks with the Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Nordic countries and the Northwest Russian regions are traditional partners due to geography and historical links. This year marks the 15th anniversary of official cooperation between the Nordic Council of Ministers and Northwest Russia. Over a thousand projects in many fields have been implemented and almost one million people have participated in various joint Russian-Nordic initiatives since the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Information Office was set up in St. Petersburg in 1995. The Nordic Council of Ministers Contact Centre was set up in Archangel in 1998. On 23 November Halldór Ásgrímsson, the Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers, will be opening Nordic Week, which then runs until 26 November.

Canadian Arctic gateway pondered

Amanda Graham — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 02:33:56 GMT

(CBC News, 8 November 2010) -- Manitoba is being eyed as a potential new international transportation route to North American markets.The over-the-pole route would see the Port of Churchill turned into a trade and economic development zone linked to Asia, Europe, Russia and Nunavut.Winnipeg would also become a significant air cargo hub, taking advantage of CentrePort Canada, a nearly 8,000-hectare inland hub currently under construction near the city's international airport.The idea is being discussed at a three-day Arctic summit, which started Monday at the University of Winnipeg."Our goal during these few days will be to bring together individuals with interests in the future of the Arctic into a forum where we can inspire serious public discussion," said University of Winnipeg president Lloyd Axworthy. "By us all coming together, from Nunavut, from Manitoba, from Canada, from many countries around the world including Russia, China, India and other countries, it gives us the chance to take that vision and make it practical," Premier Greg Selinger added.CentrePort, expected to be operational in late 2012, will serve as an air, rail and road transportation hub for North American and overseas markets. It will be linked to runways, railways and highways and build on Winnipeg's reputation as the geographic centre of North America.Diane Gray, chief executive of CentrePort, said China is looking for a new route to the North American market and is extremely interested in the hub."Alternatives to the existing West Coast ports are of interest to them and considering how that might connect into the Port of Churchill is part of it," she said.About 200 people are attending the summit, which includes representatives from air, marine and land transportation modes, community economic development organizations and northern communities, stated a news release from the Manitoba government.

Iceland gears up for national gathering

Amanda Graham — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 18:30:16 GMT

(Iceland Review, 5 November 2010) -- The 1,000 invitees—members of the public who were chosen at random — are now gearing up for the National Gathering at Laugardalshöll in Reykjavík on Saturday, where changes to the country’s constitution will be discussed. “They asked me to come. If everyone would have said no, then what? Someone has to do the dirty work,” quipped Ingibjörn Tönsberg to Fréttabladid, yet admitting that the Constitution of Iceland is a subject she has always taken an interest in. At 89, she will be the oldest attendee of the National Gathering. Steinunn Hlíf Gudmundsdóttir, on the other hand, who turns 18 late this month—only a few days before the election to the Constitutional Assembly takes place—will be the gathering’s youngest attendee. “It will be a good experience,” she said. Tönsberg and Gudmundsdóttir said they haven’t formed any specific opinions on what can be improved in the constitution, yet Tönsberg stressed that independence is the most important issue. Even though there are 71 years between them, the two women agree on the basic values in society; the goal should simply be that everyone can lead a good life. According to a press release, an almost equal number of men and women will be in attendance and their representation is more or less consistent with the nation’s age and area of residence distribution. By coincidence, a few couples were invited and a new mother has also announced her attendance, although she must take a break every now and then to breastfeed her baby. The conclusions of the National Gathering will be reported the following day. Then they will be submitted to the upcoming Constitutional Assembly, which will convene in February to draft a new constitution for Iceland. The assembly’s members will be elected on November 27.

International think tank to examine Arctic issues

Amanda Graham — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 20:59:57 GMT

(Queen's University press release via EurekAlert! 2 November 2010) -- Polar policy expert Peter Harrison, Director of the School of Policy Studies at Queen's University, will be one of the featured speakers this week at an international think tank on "The Arctic and Northern Dimensions of World Issues" in Iqaluit, Nunavut. The Canada-UK Colloquium is organized annually by Queen's School of Policy Studies and a committee in Britain, to generate discussion and research about issues of immediate concern to both countries. The Canadian coordinator is Queen's Policy Studies Professor Robert Wolfe. This year Canadian and British government leaders, scientists, Aboriginal and environmental advocates will explore Arctic topics including economic development and future opportunities, the impact of climate change, social challenges, and military and security issues. This year Canadian and British government leaders, scientists, Aboriginal and environmental advocates will explore Arctic topics including economic development and future opportunities, the impact of climate change, social challenges, and military and security issues. Output from the colloquium will inform preparations for the final, pivotal conference of International Polar Year (IPY): "From Knowledge to Action". To be held in Montreal in April, 2012, the IPY conference will be chaired by Dr. Harrison. In 2013 Canada will chair the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum of Arctic countries including Denmark, Greenland, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the U.S.

Senior Arctic Officials met in Tórshavn

Amanda Graham — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 07:25:02 GMT

(T. Villinger/Arctic Council News, 27 October 2010) -- On 19-20 October, the Senior Arctic Officials of the Arctic Council met at the beautiful Nordic House in Tórshavn, the Faroe Islands, to talk about relevant Arctic issues. The 132 delegates discussed the many ongoing projects undertaken by the various Arctic Council Working groups and Task forces, i.e., Snow Water, Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic (SWIPA), Contaminants, Shipping, and Search and Rescue. Discussions on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the Arctic Council, and on developing new Communication and Outreach guidelines, were discussed at length. The outcome of this meeting will form an important background for the ongoing preparations for the May 2011 Ministerial Meeting in Nuuk, Greenland. Upon final approval, the meeting report will be made available to all from the Arctic Council website.

Opinion: Is the Arctic Headed for Another Cold War?

Amanda Graham — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 21:30:52 GMT

(Krista Mahr/Ecocentric via Time.com, 12 October 2010) -- Arctic security wonks are gathering in Cambridge this week for a workshop on the challenges ahead for environmental security in the Arctic. Sound familiar? It should: When Russia planted a flag on a seabed in Russia's Arctic waters in the summer of 2007, the specter of a circumpolar military race hung over the globe as other nations with Arctic borders, including the U.S., scrambled to chart out their claims and, by doing so, secure rights to tap into valuable natural resources and sea routes being exposed by melting sea ice. That has flurry faded over the course of the past three years, and as Simon Shuster wrote on Time.com last week, Russia has recently taken a mellower stance promoting peace at the top o' the world. But as the private sector's ability to access Arctic oil and gas has come more clearly into focus this summer, NATO is concerned. ... Included on the agenda of the NATO conference, which is being held from Oct. 13-15 at the University of Cambridge's Scott Polar Research Institute, are topics ranging from the state of the polar ice cap (soupy) to international law governing arctic waters (murky). And in case you think it all sounds like a big polar snooze, it may interest you to know there is also an "icebreaker" reception on the schedule. Who says Arctic security isn't fun!

Parliamentarians discuss future of Barents Cooperation

Amanda Graham — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 04:52:30 GMT

(BarentsObserver, 4 October 2010) -- MURMANSK - Regional politicians from all the four countries in the Barents Region last week assembled to discuss the future of regional cross-border cooperation. The conference, which was organized on the initiative of the Murmansk regional Duma, was held in Murmansk and was attended by representatives from all the countries in the Region. The event focused on the development of regional cooperation in the period 2010-2013. The Barents cooperation has been successfully developing for many years. That is largely thanks to cooperation between regional and national levels. Runar Sjaastad, the Head of Finnmark County Council, pointed out that on the Norwegian side the northern Norwegian county of Finnmark has been a key stakeholder in the cross-border cooperation.

Inuit health a challenge worldwide: summit

Amanda Graham — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 00:50:42 GMT

(CBC News, 5 July 2010) -- Improving the health and well-being of Inuit in Canada and other Arctic nations is a major challenge, according to a circumpolar Inuit health committee. The Inuit Circumpolar Council's steering committee told delegates at the council's general assembly last week in Nuuk, Greenland, that Inuit in Canada, the United States, Russia and Greenland have health indicators below national averages. The committee also found that Inuit have among the highest numbers of health and social problems, from lung cancer and tuberculosis, to suicide, substance abuse and domestic violence. "I will not say I'm saddened by our state. All I can say is that it is a challenge and we're up for that challenge," Minnie Grey, a Canadian member of the health committee, told CBC News in Nuuk. "I believe that [the Inuit Circumpolar Council] can be a really good vehicle to inform the international world, the national governments and so on, and the Inuit themselves that they can stand up to take charge of their own health and well-being."

Conference: 2010 Northern Communicators' Forum

Amanda Graham — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 05:32:44 GMT

(NCF conference web site, 8 June 2010) -- This is the third bi-annual communications forum for communicators who work, live, serve or want to network in the Canadian North. The North is often described as vast, remote, cold... and yet beautiful. While it lives up to its reputed landscape, the North is also dynamic, growing and complex. Northern communicators are enviably positioned to learn and participate in a politically evolving environment that is geographically and culturally diverse. “Learning, Growing, Connecting” is the theme of 2010 Northern Communicators’ Forum. This year, with leading experts in social media, we will examine its burgeoning force in communications and how the North can be integrated and meaningfully engaged. The Forum will also offer hands-on social media 101 sessions and marketing Web 2.0. Take a site tour of Giant Mine, one of Canada’s largest and certainly the North’s most notorious contaminated industrial sites. This session will be followed by a frank discussion on the essential transparency in public and media communications. The Forum will also offer sessions on crisis and risk communications as well as tools for measuring communication performance and success. On Twitter: #ncf2010

Indigenous people of Russia battered by hardships

Amanda Graham — Fri, 21 May 2010 20:52:29 GMT

(Jane George/Nunatsiaq News, 20 May 2010) -- QUEBEC CITY - Many of the 280,000 indigenous peoples of Russia’s north are watching their communities and cultures teeter on the brink of extinction as economic hardships force them to leave their homelands and migrate in droves to the city. Many of those who remain behind have abandoned traditional values and become “profit-driven in their search for compensation for their traditional lands,” Larissa Abryutina of the Russian Association of the Indigenous People of the North said May 18 in a presentation to a conference at Laval University on sustainable development and sovereignty in the Arctic. Like other speakers, Abryutina revealed a striking irony: that it’s much easier to find bad examples of development and self-determination in the Arctic than good ones. Abryutina, a Chukchi, is herself a casualty of the desperate choices facing northern Russian indigenous people: a doctor of radiology, she left her home region of Chukotka due to its declining standard of living. Since the 1990s, and the fall of the Soviet Union’s Communist government, things have gone from bad to worse for northern indigenous people in Russia, Abryutina said. And their life expectancy has fallen to between 40 and 45 years due to the environmental pollution, alcoholism and poor health care.

Eight countries to discuss offshore oil drilling in Eastern Arctic

Amanda Graham — Sun, 09 May 2010 17:26:22 GMT

(Bob Weber/The Canadian Press via Brandon Sun, 5 May 2010) -- Environmentalists warn that Ottawa must be vigilant as Greenland welcomes offshore oil drilling in the Eastern Arctic immediately adjacent to Canada's territorial waters. Earlier this week, Greenland accepted bids to drill in Baffin Bay near the mouth of Lancaster Sound, where Canada hopes to establish a marine conservation area. The vast, thinly populated territory — which controls its own resources as part of a deal with Denmark — hopes to drill along thousands of kilometres of the maritime border it shares with Canada. That work is expected to begin this summer. Canada has accepted an invitation to meet with Denmark and the other six members of the Arctic Council this June in Ilullissat, Greenland. The meeting, which is to focus on protecting the Arctic environment, will include discussions on offshore oil drilling. "It will be part of it," said Danish embassy spokesman Jakob Henningsen. "They will be discussing offshore oil and gas." A spokeswoman from Canada's Foreign Affairs Department confirmed Canada's participation. "Canada will participate at a meeting on the Arctic environment," said Ambra Dickie in an email. She would reveal no other details. In addition to the eight Arctic Council members, representatives from northern aboriginal groups will also be present, Henningsen said The icy waters between Greenland and Canada are considered to hold one of the great prizes of Arctic resource development. The U.S. Geological Survey ranks the West Greenland-East Canada Basin seventh out of 25 Arctic regions with energy potential. It is estimated to hold the equivalent of more than 17 billion barrels of oil, with the chance of finding oil or gas in the area anywhere from one in three to virtually 100 per cent.

Arctic Leaders gather in Moscow

Amanda Graham — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 07:18:19 GMT

(Barents Indigenous Peoples, 7 April 2010) -- RAIPON (Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples in the North, Siberia and Far East) is hosting the Fifth Arctic Leaders' Summit in Moscow on April 14th-15th 2010, supported by the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. The event will gather indigenous leaders of the Arctic for discussion about industrial development in the Arctic under climate change. The Summit is arranged back-to-back with the 20th anniversary of RAIPON, and there will be an opening of the 2010 Northern Civilization Expo. The ICC (Inuit Circumpolar Council) hosted the first summit in 1991, and two years later, the Saami Council hosted the event in Norway. The third summit was hosted by RAIPON in 1999, and the fourth was hosted by AAC (Arctic Athabaskan Council) in Canada in 2005. Read more at Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat and RAIPON

Popular music a way to preserve Inuktitut

Amanda Graham — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:47:30 GMT

(CBC News, 14 February 2010) -- A conference on northern languages in Iqaluit has ended with some participants urging territorial governments to use popular music as a way of promoting and preserving Inuktitut. The Nunavut Language Summit examined ways in which music — and not the traditional throat singing or other ancient forms of entertainment — can help younger Inuit connect with their culture. "Definitely, I think Inuktitut can be preserved through poetry, through songwriting, through every kind of writing there is," Juno award-winning performer Susan Aglukark, who sings in both English and Inuktitut, told CBC News. Canadian delegates have cast an eye towards their neighbours in Greenland where young Inuk dance in clubs to lyrics in Kalaallisut, the Greenlandic language. There are two major music labels on the island which boast music in the Greenlandic language from many genres: rock, hip hop and soul. Local performers such as Chilly Friday and Nanook are treated like celebrities. ... The example from Greenland is now inspiring locals. Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, who is a Greenlandic-Canadian Inuk living in Iqaluit, says she'd love to have the same kind of music scene. Barthory is part of a group trying to create a performing arts centre in Iqaluit.

Inuktitut standardization still hot topic in Nunavut

Amanda Graham — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 01:42:37 GMT

(CBC News, 11 February 2010) -- A major topic of discussion at this week's Nunavut Language Summit is whether to standardize the Inuktitut language, which is spoken and written in a number of ways across the predominantly Inuit territory. Standardizing Inuktitut has long been a hotly debated subject in Nunavut, where the Inuit language is spoken in several local and regional dialects. There are also two writing systems: syllabics are used in eastern Nunavut, while Inuit in western Nunavut write Inuktitut words using Roman orthography. But Inuit leaders at the language summit, which began Tuesday and runs through Friday in Iqaluit, say a standard form of Inuktitut is essential to the language's survival. "I think there is no other answer than to develop a standard writing system, and on top of that a standard dialect," Jose Kusugak, president of the Kivalliq Inuit Association in Rankin Inlet, told CBC News during the summit.

First Nation governance conference opens in Whitehorse

Amanda Graham — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:07:57 GMT

(Indian and Northern Affairs Canada press release, 9 February 2010) -- The Government of Yukon and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) are co-hosting the First Nation Governance: Building on Experience conference February 9 to 11, 2010 in Whitehorse. The conference will bring together First Nation, Yukon and federal government representatives to share knowledge, build partnerships and strengthen working relationships. ... The three-day conference is an opportunity for Yukon and northern BC First Nations, federal and territorial government officials to work together and learn from each others' experiences in capacity development. Yukon First Nations, along with the Daylu Dena Council, Dease River First Nation and the Taku River Tlingit First Nation of British Columbia were invited to send employees responsible for governance, administration and training. This year the invitation was extended to youth representatives as well. The conference is funded through the Government of Yukon, the Northern Strategy Trust Fund and INAC's Professional and Institutional Development Program. This year's event builds on the success of Capacity Conference: Moving Forward that was held in February 2009.

G7 finance ministers to taste raw seal, travel by dog sleds

Amanda Graham — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:09:36 GMT

(EUBusiness, 2 February 2010) -- OTTAWA - G7 finance ministers will sample Arctic life when they meet in Iqaluit in Canada's far north this week, traveling by dog sled, eating raw seal meat and discussing the elite club's future by fireside. Host Canada wants ministers to gain a cultural understanding of the Arctic at the February 5-6 talks, in addition to the usual economic and financial banter that takes place at the gatherings, officials told a briefing. It will be an opportunity, for example, to showcase the importance of the seal hunt for northern peoples to key members of the European Union, which announced a ban on importing seal products last year. Four of the Group of Seven industrialized nations (G7) -- Britain, France, Germany and Italy -- are European nations. Japan, the United States and Canada round out the group. The EU in July 2009 adopted a ban on seal products, ruling the goods could not be marketed from 2010. Exceptions were made for products not sold for profit and products coming from Inuit hunts. Aqqaluk Lynge, president in Greenland of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference [sic, Council] (ICC), a non-governmental organization representing some 150,000 Inuit from Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia, argued that the "Inuit exemption" was flawed. The market has suffered greatly since the EU legislation was announced, Lynge told AFP last month. Canada and Greenland account for more than 50 percent of the 900,000 seals slain in the world each year. Other seal-hunting countries include Norway, Namibia, Iceland, Russia and the United States. Last month, Inuit in Canada and Greenland filed a suit in the European General Court to overturn EU legislation banning the import of seal products.

Arctic marine health focus of circumpolar meeting

Amanda Graham — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:23:21 GMT

(CBC News, 27 January 2010) -- Scientists want to bring together people from Canada and other circumpolar nations in Iqaluit next year to talk about the health of the Arctic marine environment and the North's fisheries. The annual Ocean Innovation Conference, to be held in the Nunavut capital in October 2011, is being organized amid concerns about the effects of climate change in the North. Conference organizers from the Fisheries and Marine Institute at Memorial University in St. John's, N.L., are in Nunavut this week to meet with government officials and Inuit hunters. Randy Gillespie, the institute's director of applied research, said organizers will work closely with partners in Nunavut to hold a conference that will include representatives from Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Russia and the United States. "We want to explore the relationships between science and technology and traditional knowledge, recognizing that all three have something to contribute to a sustainable understanding of the marine environment," Gillespie told CBC News. Conference delegates will discuss everything from pollution to ship traffic, Gillespie said. Arctic fisheries will also be discussed, as Nunavut works to expand both its offshore and inshore fishing industries.

Greenpeace calls for Arctic Ocean drilling ban

Amanda Graham — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:52:10 GMT

(Greenpeace International press release via Scoop New Zealand, 25 January 2010) -- Tromsø, Norway - Greenpeace is calling for an immediate moratorium on all activity by extractive industries in the Arctic Ocean, as representatives from oil companies, governments and scientists meet to discuss the future of the region at the Arctic Frontiers Conference (25-29 January) in Tromsø, Norway. Greenpeace Nordic Executive Director Mads Flarup Christensen will address the conference plenary on Tuesday 26 January. The moratorium needs to cover the part of the Arctic Ocean that has historically been covered by sea ice and remain in place until a permanent international agreement is established, similar to the agreement that protects the Antarctic. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the Arctic Ocean seabed contains over 20% of the world’s fossil fuel resources. With the urgent need to cut carbon emissions drastically and avert catastrophic climate change, these must stay underground. Scientists from Greenpeace’s summer 2009 Arctic ice expedition will present their preliminary findings on their research on the impacts of climate change in the Arctic, demonstrating the impacts of climate change are taking place faster than predicted The conference will be attended by Greenpeace campaigners from Norway, Denmark and the United States.

Russian musical to open Tromsø International Film Festival

Amanda Graham — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 18:50:56 GMT

(BarentsObserver, 8 January 2010) -- The Russian rock musical “Hipsters” (Stilyagi) will be the opening movie at the 2010 Tromsø International Film Festival. The Hollywood reporter calls Hipsters “a visually stunning and energetic musical satirizing repression in the Soviet Union”. The movie won the 2009 Nika Award (Russia’s answer to the Oscar) for best film, best cinematography, costume design and sound editing. Tromsø International Film Festival (TIFF) has had an incredible growth since it first commenced in 1991 and is now the largest film festival in Norway. The total of admissions in 1991 was 5,200 — in 2009 it was 48 258. TIFF 2010 includes more than 100 movies on 12 screens. A popular sidebar at the festival is Films from the North – a special program for shorts and documentaries from the Barents region and other circumpolar areas. Tromsø International Film Festival is set in the dark polar nights, which give's TIFF the unique possibility to screen films outdoor. The outdoor cinema is located at the main square in the heart of Tromsø. TIFF 2010 takes place January 18-24. [Read the program for TIFF 2010. See trailer for “Hipsters” on YouTube.]

Arctic ships could face greenhouse gas restrictions

Amanda Graham — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:08:05 GMT

(CBC News, 11 December 2009) -- Shipping companies that operate in the Arctic may be required to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions they produce, depending on how climate-change talks go in Copenhagen, Denmark. The International Marine Organization, the United Nations agency responsible for improving maritime safety and environmental impacts, is seeking a mandate at the Copenhagen summit to regulate greenhouse gases generated by ships. The issue of curbing pollution from marine vessels is becoming increasingly important in Arctic waterways, which in recent years have been seeing more traffic from commercial freight vessels, cruise ships, icebreakers and other boats. The organization estimates that there are about 60,000 ships operating worldwide, generating 2.7 per cent of all human-made carbon dioxide emissions, said Karin Sjolin-Frudd, an IMO senior adviser.

Indigenous delegates: climate pact should include human rights

Amanda Graham — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:15:58 GMT

(Jane George/Nunatsiaq New, 10 December 2009) -- Copenhagen - Indigenous leaders from the Arctic, Africa and small island nations are using International Human Rights Day to call for human rights to be made part of a new global climate pact. A panel of the indigenous leaders gathered Dec. 10 at a conference side event in Copenhagen’s Bella Centre to make that case. The panelists also called for a climate change agreement that includes a stronger acknowledgment of human rights and more protections for basic human rights, such as the right to freedom, equality, and adequate living conditions. The new climate deal, to be hammered out between now and Dec. 18, should focus on people, because climate change is more than the environment and protecting “furry animals,” said activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier of Iqaluit. “Not everyone relates to science, but you can relate to the human rights,” Watt-Cloutier said.

Bellona hosts wide-ranging discussion on nuclear dangers in Russia’s Northwest

Amanda Graham — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:47:31 GMT

(Charless Digges/Bellona, 3 December 2009) -- As Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear corporation beings to apply a stranglehold on information about the country’s nuclear energy programmes, the public is less and less likely to find out about how the Kola Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is operating at 104 percent capacity on reactors that have outlived their prospective life-spans. They are also less likely to know that it was advised by nuclear inspectors that these reactors never surpass 70 percent capacity, and that the current capacity they are running at could lead to Chernobyl—take two. Further kept in the dark is the fact that the Kola Peninsula, home to Murmansk, has an energy surplus making it entirely unnecessary to run the Kola NPP’s second generation reactors—which have received 10 year engineering life span expansions—at such a volume, making the risks of a radiological catastrophe entirely avoidable. The public of Northwest Russia is also lacking in the knowledge that there have been 53 radiologically hazardous incidents aboard nuclear powered surface ships since 2002—though probably more as the government stopped access this kind of information. And more generally, the public of Russia as a whole is most likely in the dark about the 15,000 plus tons of spent nuclear fuel that has filled Russia storage capacity to a seam-bursting 90-97 percent. Such were just a fraction of some of the facts that were revealed at a seminar Bellona held yesterday in Oslo on radioactive and nuclear problems in Russia’s northwest. This discouraging information was brought to light by a Bellona panel of Alexander Nikitin, chairman of Russia’s St. Petersburg offices, energy author and Bellona contributor Vladislav Larin, and Professor Vladimir Kuznetsov, a senior researcher at the Vavilov Institute of the History of Natural Sciences and Technology. He is also a former Russian nuclear regulatory inspector and member of Rosatom’s Public Council. They were joined by Johnny Almsted of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry and Ingar Amundsen of the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority who participated in the debate portion of the seminar.

Polar bear sculpture shapes climate change concern

Amanda Graham — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:38:16 GMT

(CBC News, 5 December 2009) -- A British sculptor carving a polar bear out of ice, with a bronze skeleton inside, hopes to make a powerful environmental message when the Arctic animal art piece melts. Mark Coreth started creating the ice polar bear on Friday in Kongens Nytorv Square in Copenhagen, Denmark, close to where nearly 20,000 people are expected to attend the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from Dec. 7 to 18. Coreth got the idea after visiting Churchill, Man., in November, and observing the bears and the sea ice. He said he was struck by the plight of the animals due to climate change, and became convinced "that we have got to do something about this and do it quick." At 1.8 metres, the bear sculpture will be the same height as the average thickness of the floating sea ice in the Arctic Ocean as measured during the Catlin Arctic Survey earlier this year, he said. Observers will be encouraged to be interactive with the sculpture, he added, saying that anyone who touches it will help change the shape and "represent the human aspect of warming the planet. We hope that this creative act will bring home to each person how humanity has the power to affect the delicate balance of nature," he said.

Winnipeg photo show exhibits rarely seen images of 1950s Arctic famine

Amanda Graham — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:20:41 GMT

(CP, 3 December 2009) -- WINNIPEG - Sometime in late February 1950, a Canadian photographer pulled a camera out of his parka and into the stabbing Arctic cold, focused as best he could in the flickering lamplight inside an igloo, and pressed the shutter. The resulting image - an Inuit mother, haggard from hunger and dressed in shabby caribou skins, fiercely pressing her nose and lips to those of her youngest child—has since become iconic. But the story behind Richard Harrington's memorable print, and the many others he made around the same time, is less well known. And that's what a show now on at the Winnipeg Art Gallery hopes to remedy. "It's certainly long overdue," said Darlene Wight, one of two curators behind the exhibit, which runs until March. Harrington made six trips to the Arctic between 1948 and 1953. He travelled by dogsled and often lived with the Inuit, who still largely depended on the land. It was a life that informed their traditional culture but depended on the availability of caribou. Harrington's 1950 trip came in a year the caribou didn't. The result was famine. As southern Canadians were welcoming a prosperous decade of suburbs and big-finned cars, many of their northern fellow citizens were starving to death. On Feb. 8, a few days before he snapped his most famous picture, Harrington wrote in his journal: "Came upon the tiniest igloo yet. Outside lay a single, mangy dog, motionless, starving ... Inside, a small woman in clumsy clothes, large hood, with baby. "She sat in darkness, without heat. She speaks to me. I believe she said they were starving. "We left some tea, matches, kerosene, biscuits. And went on." More than once, Harrington photographed someone who would be dead the next day. And when he returned south, it was those images that finally alerted the rest of Canada to what was going on in its Arctic backyard.

Chiefs give touring MPs an earful

Amanda Graham — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:55:22 GMT

(John Thompson/Yukon News, 20 November 2009) -- If Ottawa wants to see the North’s economy grow, it needs to get serious about implementing First Nation land-claim deals. The committee is trying to suss out the big obstacles to economic growth. Top of the chiefs’ list of hurdles is the federal government’s reluctance to push forward on various land-claim commitments. “For the most part, Canada has vacated the field in the North,” Mike Smith, chief of the Kwanlin Dun, told the committee, which spent two days in Whitehorse as part of a tour of Canada’s territories. When chiefs try to raise issues with federal ministers during visits to Ottawa, they’re told to bring it up with their counterparts in the territorial government. “The door is closed,” said Smith. Meanwhile, the Yukon government is “not capable or willing” to meet these obligations, he said. In this way, First Nations find themselves “whipsawed” by two levels of governments, said Brenda Sam, chief of the Ta’an Kwach’an. Without adequate funding to run their offices, First Nations have difficulty providing programs and services to their members. Yet when they ask for more money, they’re told to first address their capacity problems. “That’s a catch-22,” said Mark Wedge, chief of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation. “Canada needs to start treating us as governments, not just as Indians.” This “chronic underfunding” also means qualified workers often leave for jobs with the territorial bureaucracy, which is able to offer better pay and benefits, said Wilfred Sheldon, chief of the Kluane First Nation. “It’s a continual capacity problem,” he said.

World Bank: Include indigenous peoples

Amanda Graham — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:42:31 GMT

(Marianne Bom/COP15.dk News, 18 November 2009) -- It is critical for indigenous peoples to be included in the climate change talks, since they are among the groups most affected by global warming, World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick said on Wednesday at a roundtable discussion on indigenous peoples and climate change in Washington. Zoellick said that indigenous peoples carry a "disproportionate share of the burden of climate change effects." "Climate change exacerbates the difficulties that indigenous communities already face—including loss of land and resources, lower human development indicators, discrimination, unemployment, and economic and political marginalization," he said. Indigenous communities "can also add to our knowledge and understanding of how best to cope with this complex challenge ... learning from indigenous peoples will make our discussions richer and our actions more productive," Zoellick said and mentioned African indigenous peoples' use of the dry land by growing red bush tea as an example. Participants in the roundtable discussion were aimed at helping to set up an Indigenous Peoples Climate Action Fund to provide direct financing to selected indigenous communities around the world.

Iqaluit to host G7 finance meeting

Amanda Graham — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:57:25 GMT

(CBC News, 18 November 2009) -- The capital of Nunavut will host a major meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bank governors in February, federal officials announced Wednesday. The Iqaluit meeting, slated for Feb. 5-6, will be the first of a series of important finance meetings to be held in Canada in 2010, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters in Ottawa. It will be followed by the G8 and G20 leaders' summits to be held in June. Flaherty said the G7 colleagues he spoke to in Italy last summer all expressed interest in travelling to Canada's Far North for the February meeting. "We have to limit the size of the delegations so that we can use Iqaluit, but I'm really looking forward to showing my colleagues from around the world the beauty of the Canadian Arctic in February," he said. Flaherty was joined by Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, the Conservative MP for Nunavut, at Wednesday's announcement. The meeting will include discussion on actions to strengthen the global economy, ways of following through on financial sector reforms, and ways to strengthen international financial institutions. G7 members include Canada, the United States, Britain, France and Germany, Italy and Japan. [See also Louise Egan/Reuters, "Canada to host G7 finance officials in Arctic," and the editorial by Kelly McParland, "G7 ministers to meet in Arctic, kick sand in face of G20 wimps," The National Post, both 18 November 2009.]

The Arctic Council prepares for COP 15

Amanda Graham — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:06:48 GMT

(Tana Lowen Stratton/Arctic Council News, 17 November 2009) -- In a successful two-day meeting in Copenhagen, the Arctic Council Senior Arctic Officials approved a number of reports and from the Council’s working groups and discussed two new task forces. The first Senior Arctic Official (SAO) meeting of the Danish Chairmanship of the Arctic Council (2009-2011) took place on 12-13 November in Copenhagen. The SAO Chair, Mr. Lars Møller, was very satisfied with the decisions taken at the meeting, "The meeting was very productive and we achieved our objectives. I am especially delighted that we now are well prepared for the Arctic Council activities at COP 15." On climate change, SAOs approved the Arctic Council report on the Greenland Ice Sheet to be presented to the UN Climate Conference in December. Information about the Arctic Council will also be presented at an "Arctic Venue" during the CoP15. SAOs agreed that the Key Messages of Arctic Council's Arctic Biodiversity Trends - 2010: selected indicators of change report will be submitted to the Convention on Biological Diversity for inclusion in the upcoming third Global Biodiversity Outlook report. SAOs approved work on a set of priorities for follow-up activities to respond to the recommendations in the Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (AMSA) 2009 Report. These include an Arctic Council review of the global and regional measures that are in place for the protection of the Arctic marine and coastal environment, and to enhance cooperation in oil spill prevention.

Canadian Commons committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development in Whitehorse

Amanda Graham — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:43:16 GMT

(CPAC, 17 November 2009) -- Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development: Members of the Standing Committee are in Whitehorse on 17 November and Yellowknife on 19 November to hear testimony from government officials, business leaders, and other voices on economic development in Yukon Territory. (Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, press release, 30 October 2009) -- The House of Commons Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development announced at the end of October that it was undertaking a comprehensive study of issues related to northern economic development. “It is increasingly apparent that advancing the economic prosperity of the North and of northerners is of enormous significance for the future of Canada as a whole”, Bruce Stanton, MP for Simcoe North and Chair of the Committee, stated. “The Committee recognizes that, and wants to play a part in ensuring that the needs of the North and of northerners in the area of economic development are given a full hearing.” The Committee is focussed on gaining a better understanding of the barriers and challenges northerners in the three territories face in promoting their economic well-being, and possible solutions to overcome those barriers. A wide range of witnesses from government, industry, economic development and community organizations and Aboriginal groups will be invited to appear before the Committee to share their perspectives on the current state of economic development in the North, and on ways to improve it.

Nunavut land claims agreement workshop

Amanda Graham — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:20:32 GMT

(NTI, 6 November 2009) -- Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. is holding a workshop on the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement on Nov. 25 and 26 (morning only) at the Radisson Hotel in Ottawa, ON. An overview on the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA) will be provided along with presentations on the history of negotiations provided by Paul Quassa. The architecture of the claim, the objectives and obligations in the NLCA will also be covered. Presentations will cover wildlife, Inuit-owned lands, social and cultural development, economic development and Inuit employment. The registration fee for this workshop is $450. Cheques should be made payable to Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated and mailed to: Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., 1002-75 Albert St., Ottawa, ON K1P 5E7, Attn: Ms. Udloriak Hanson. For more information contact Ms. Udloriak Hanson at 613 238 9718 or email workshop at tunngavik.com. To register, download and complete the form below fax it to 613 238 4131 or email the form to workshop at tunngavik.com

Inuit leaders demand action at climate-change conference

Amanda Graham — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:58:49 GMT

(CBC News, 16 November 2009) -- Inuit leaders are calling on Canada's three northern territories to be more vocal about the need to address climate change, as the United Nations conference comes up in Copenhagen next month. Canada will be among 193 nations represented at the UN's 15th Conference of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, to be held Dec. 7-18 in Copenhagen. The 193 countries have ratified the United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention. Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak and Northwest Territories Premier Floyd Roland, as well as Yukon deputy premier and Environment Minister Elaine Taylor, will be among representatives from across Canada at the Copenhagen conference. "Of all the peoples in the world, knowing just how negatively impacted we have been by globalization, we should be in the lead as to how we are going to create balanced sustainability in our own Arctic," Inuit environmental activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier told CBC News. Watt-Cloutier said lowering greenhouse gas emissions and slowing climate change is a human rights issue, so it's critical for countries like Canada to make a commitment to that effect in Copenhagen. The Inuit Circumpolar Council, which represents about 160,000 Inuit from Canada, Russia, Greenland and the U.S., is also calling on northern and international leaders to take strong action in Copenhagen.