© S. Navy photo, public domain
Profit over protection
Business as usual will leave the Arctic on thin ice
The Arctic, a pristine region whose fragile ecosystems and rich Indigenous cultures are threatened by climate change, faces existential challenges from within. Its alleged guardians, the Arctic states, are busy competing for natural resources, playing geopolitical power games, and starting another arms race. As CLAUDIU EDUARD NEDELCIU writes, this reckless pursuit of control is pushing Arctic ecosystems and communities to the brink.
Picture this: It’s late at night, and you’re sound asleep when a deafening, screeching noise jolts you wide awake. Your ceiling is torn apart, headlights pierce through the darkness, and dust fills the air, suffocating you. Does this sound like your worst nightmare? Because that is how deep-sea mining could feel for creatures who live on the ocean floor.
In January 2024, an overwhelming majority in the Norwegian Parliament voted to allow deep-sea mining exploration in Norwegian waters against the advice of scientists who urged caution to protect fragile ecosystems. The area enclosed for exploration is about the size of Italy, and almost all of it lies in Arctic waters.
This is just the latest in a long list of decisions giving extraction a green light. For decades, the Arctic has been treated like a deserted land to be exploited—from copper mining in Norway to coal and gas in Russia to zinc-lead mining in Greenland and uranium extraction in Canada. Corporate players have relentlessly pushed to extract non-renewable minerals and fossil fuels in the name of “development” as the West understands it: overconsumption, profit, power and dominion over nature.
Ironically, it is not just nature that is left bruised by development. Local communities—many of them home to Indigenous Peoples—often bear the brunt of the consequences of extraction and exploitation. Their lands have been flooded by hydroelectric dams, used as nuclear testing sites, and contaminated by millions of tons of toxic chemicals. Rivers that once teemed with life lie barren and oil spills have darkened coasts. It is all for development, but development is not for all.
© Kevin Schafer / WWF
An existential threat
Transforming this system geared towards extraction and exploitation at the cost of people and the planet requires cooperation, pooling of resources, and knowledge-sharing on a global scale. But instead, Arctic states are rushing to militarize the region. Their goals are to assert jurisdiction and gain geopolitical advantage to secure opportunities for future resource extraction. In this environment of fragmentation and isolationism, formerly strong alliances are crumbling.
The Arctic Council, which once aspired to solve complex Arctic issues through collaboration, has been undermined by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Arctic research has also suffered a blow. With Russian scientists excluded from collaborations with research institutions based in other Arctic states, data are missing for almost half the Arctic, with dramatic consequences for climate science. Worse, a new administration in the US means Russia is not even the council’s only problem.
Once the posterchild of serenity, the Arctic has morphed into a space of shifting power dynamics, polarization, militarization and rampant extractivism.
Where does this all leave us?
Every crisis is an opportunity. We heard this during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we hear it again every time a recession looms: “next time, we will do better.” Yet we rarely do.
It is time for some soul-searching. Policymakers are still living under the illusion of “development.” They refuse to see that repeating old development patterns in the Arctic will only fuel the crisis. They have the responsibility to create a better future for our world—and we have the right and the responsibility to demand that they do so.
After all, the Arctic is a mirror for the world. As its ice melts, so too does the illusion that business as usual is still working. The Arctic—indeed, the world—needs collaboration and a vision for the future that puts people and planet first. Such a vision requires a political class that is brave and inclusive. It also requires us to raise our standards.
We can, and we must, do better.
After all, the Arctic is a mirror for the world. As its ice melts, so too does the illusion that business as usual is still working.
— Claudiu Eduard Nedelciu, postdoctoral fellow, University of Bergen
CLAUDIU EDUARD NEDELCIU is a systems thinker and Shaping European Research Leaders for Marine Sustainability (SEAS) postdoctoral fellow at the University of Bergen, Norway.
