Skip to main content

Extractive Energy and Arctic Communities

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Arctic Policy and Politics

Abstract

This chapter offers a review of the current policy framework for extractive energy engagement with Arctic communities. It reviews the roles of actors and policies that shape industry-community engagements, including policies and frameworks developed by the Arctic Council and its working groups, Arctic states, and non-governmental organization (NGOs). This is followed by a discussion of risks posed to Arctic residents and current strategies for risk mitigation, including environmental impact assessment and impact and benefit agreements. The chapter concludes with a consideration of the need to diversify regional and local economies in the Arctic, particularly in light of climate change and the global transition to renewable energy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    See Baker (2018) for a review of international legal frameworks for offshore oil and gas development.

References

  • Arctic Council. 2011. Agreement on Cooperation on Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue in the Arctic. Nuuk, Greenland. May 12. https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/handle/11374/531. Accessed 13 November 2018.

  • ———. 2013. Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response in the Arctic. Kiruna, Sweden, May 15. https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/handle/11374/529. Accessed 13 November 2018.

  • ———. 2017. Agreement on Enhancing international Arctic Scientific Cooperation. Fairbanks, Alaska, May 11. https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/handle/11374/1916. Accessed 13 November 2018.

  • Arruda, G.M., and S. Krutkowski. 2017. Social Impacts of Climate Change and Resource Development in the Arctic. Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy 11 (2): 277–288. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEC-08-2015-0040.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Avango, D., L. Hacquebord, and U. Wråkberg. 2014. Industrial Extraction of Arctic Natural Resources Since the Sixteenth Century: Technoscience and Geo-Economics in the History of Northern Whaling and Mining. Journal of Historical Geography 44 (0305): 15–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhg.2014.01.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker, B. 2018. The Arctic Offshore Hydrocarbon Hiatus of 2015: An Opportunity to Revisit Regulation Around the Pole. In Governance of Arctic Offshore Oil and Gas, ed. C. Pelaudeix and E.M. Basse. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, M. 2017. Alaska Native Corporation Pursues Offshore Oil. The Maritime Executive, July 23. https://www.maritime-executive.com/features/alaska-native-corporation-pursues-offshore-oil. Accessed 15 November 2018.

  • Bennett, N.J., J. Blythe, S. Tyler, and N.C. Ban. 2016. Communities and Change in the Anthropocene: Understanding Social-Ecological Vulnerability and Planning Adaptations to Multiple Interacting Exposures. Regional Environmental Change 16 (4): 907–926. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-015-0839-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berger, Thomas R. 1988. Northern Frontier, Northern Homeland: The Report of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buxton, A., and E. Wilson. 2013. FPIC and the Extractive Industries: A Guide to Applying the Spirit of Free, Prior and Informed Consent in Industrial Projects. London: International Institute for Environment and Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byers, M. 2013. International Law and the Arctic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Callison, C. 2014. How Climate Change Comes to Matter: The Communal Life of Facts. Durham: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • CBC. 2017. New Tuktoyaktuk Road Life-Changing for Arctic Community. CBC Radio “The Current”, November 15. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-november-15-2017-1.4401756/new-tuktoyaktuk-road-life-changing-for-arctic-community-1.4401922. Accessed 13 November 2018.

  • Cueva, V.P. 2018. Impact Benefit Agreements and Economic and Environmental Risk Management in the Arctic. In Governance of Arctic Offshore Oil and Gas, ed. C. Pelaudeix and E.M. Base, 179–199. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dana, L.P., A. Meis-Mason, and R.B. Anderson. 2008. Oil and Gas and the Inuvialuit People of the Western Arctic. Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy 2 (2): 151–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dana, L.P., R.B. Anderson, and A. Meis-Mason. 2009. A Study of the Impact of Oil and Gas Development on the Dene First Nations of the Sahtu (Great Bear Lake) Region of the Canadian Northwest Territories (NWT). Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy 3 (1): 94–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denchak, M. 2018. Ocean Pollution: The Dirty Facts. Natural Resources Defense Council, January 23. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/ocean-pollution-dirty-facts. Accessed 14 November 2018.

  • Dittmer, D.L. Gautier, K.J. Bird, R.R. Charpentier, A. Grantz, D.W. Houseknecht, T.R. Klett, and C.J. Wandrey. 2009. Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas in the Arctic. Science 324: 5931.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dittmer, J., S. Moisio, A. Ingram, and K. Dodds. 2011. Have You Heard the One About the Disappearing Ice? Recasting Arctic Geopolitics. Political Geography 30 (4): 202–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dombrowski, K. 2007. Subsistence Livelihood, Native Identity and Internal Differentiation in Southeast Alaska. Anthropologica 49 (2): 211–229.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehrlich, A. 2010. Cumulative Cultural Effects and Reasonably Foreseeable Future Developments in the Upper Thelon Basin, Canada. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal 28 (4): 279–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellsworth, W.L. 2013. Injection-Induced Earthquakes. Science 341 (6142): 1225942–1225942.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ensign, P.C., A.R. Giles, and J. Oncescu. 2014. Natural Resource Exploration and Extraction in Northern Canada: Intersections with Community Cohesion and Social Welfare. Journal of Rural and Community Development 9 (1): 112–133.

    Google Scholar 

  • EPA. 2016. Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas: Impacts from the Hydraulic Fracturing Water Cycle on Drinking Water Resources in the United States (Final Report). Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/hfstudy/recordisplay.cfm?deid=332990. Accessed 30 July 2019.

  • Gulas, S., M. Downton, K. D’Souza, K. Hayden, and T.R. Walker. 2017. Declining Arctic Ocean Oil and Gas Developments: Opportunities to Improve Governance and Environmental Pollution Control. Marine Policy 75 (October 2016): 53–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2016.10.014.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guterman, L. 2009. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY: Exxon Valdez Turns 20. Science 323 (5921): 1558–1559.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, A.M., S.V. Larsen, and B. Noble. 2018. Social and Environmental Impact Assessments in the Arctic. In The Routledge Handbook of the Polar Regions, ed. M. Nuttall, T.R. Christiansen, and M.J. Siegert, 389–399. London, New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heinämäki, L. 2015. Global Context – Arctic Importance: Free, Prior and Informed Consent, a New Paradigm in International Law Related to Indigenous Peoples. In Indigenous Peoples Governance of Land and Protected Territories in the Arctic, ed. T.M. Herrmann and T. Martin, 209–243. Cham: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hendersen, J., and J. Loe. 2014. The Prospects and Challenges for Arctic Oil Development. Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. Working Paper 54.

    Google Scholar 

  • ICC (Inuit Circumpolar Council). 2011. A Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on Resource Development Principles in Inuit Nunaat. https://iccalaska.org/wp-icc/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Declaration-on-Resource-Development-A4-folder-FINAL.pdf. Accessed 29 July 2019.

  • Loe, J.S.P., and I. Kelman. 2016. Arctic Petroleum’s Community Impacts: Local Perceptions from Hammerfest, Norway. Energy Research and Social Science 16: 25–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2016.03.008.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirkfeldt, T.S., A.M. Hansen, P. Olesen, L. Mortensen, K. Hristova, and A. Welsch. 2017. Why Cumulative Impacts Assessments of Hydrocarbon Activities in the Arctic Fail to Meet Their Purpose. Regional Environmental Change 17 (3): 725–737.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knapp, G. 2012. Alaska’s Experience with Arctic Oil and Gas Development: History, Policy Issues, and Lessons. Presentation at Energies of the High North-Arctic Frontiers, Tromso, Norway. January 25. https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/bitstream/handle/11122/3956/2012_01_25-Alaskas_Experience_with_Arctic_Oil_and_Gas_Development.pdf?sequence=1. Accessed 13 November 2018.

  • Koivurova, T. 2018. Framing the Problem in Arctic Offshore Exploration. In Governance of Arctic Offshore Oil and Gas, ed. C. Pelaudeix and E.M. Basse. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kyhn, L.A., S. Sveegaard, and J. Tougaard. 2014. Underwater Noise Emissions from a Drillship in the Arctic. Marine Pollution Bulletin 86 (1–2): 424–433. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.MARPOLBUL.2014.06.037.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCauley, D., R. Heffron, M. Pavlenko, R. Rehner, and R. Holmes. 2016. Energy Justice in the Arctic: Implications for Energy Infrastructural Development in the Arctic. Energy Research & Social Science 16: 141–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, N.C., and J.M. Pearce. 2013. Community Voices: Perspectives on Renewable Energy in Nunavut. Arctic 66 (1): 94–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDowell, G., and J.D. Ford. 2014. The Socio-Ecological Dimensions of Hydrocarbon Development in the Disko Bay Region of Greenland: Opportunities, Risks, and Tradeoffs. Applied Geography 46: 98–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2013.11.006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGlade, C., and P. Ekins. 2015. The Geographical Distribution of Fossil Fuels Unused When Limiting Global Warming to 2 Degrees. Nature 517: 187–190. https://doi.org/10.1038/Nature14016.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery, S.L. 2017. Large Scale Fracking Comes to the Arctic in a New Alaska Oil Boom. The Conversation, April 12. http://theconversation.com/large-scale-fracking-comes-to-the-arctic-in-a-new-alaska-oil-boom-75683. Accessed 14 November 2018.

  • Mortensen, B.O.G. 2018. Impact and Benefit Agreements in Greenland. In Governance of Arctic Offshore Oil and Gas, ed. C. Pelaudeix and E.M. Base, 199–210. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newman, D., M. Biddulph, and L. Binnion. 2014. Arctic Energy Development and Best Practices on Consultation with Indigenous Peoples. Boston University International Law Journal 32 (Summer): 449.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nilsen, T. 2016. Why Arctic Policies Matter: The Role of Exogenous Actions in Oil and Gas Industry Development in the Norwegian High North. Energy Research & Social Science 16: 45–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noble, B., S. Ketilson, A. Aitken, and G. Poelzer. 2013. Strategic Environmental Assessment Opportunities and Risks for Arctic Offshore Energy Planning and Development. Marine Policy 39 (1): 296–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nuttall, M. 2009. Energy Development and Aboriginal Rights in Northern Canada. In Canada’s and Europe’s Northern Dimensions, ed. A. Dey-Nuttall and M. Nuttall, 71–84. Oulu: University of Oulu Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2017. Under the Great Ice: Climate, Society, and Subsurface Politics in Greenland. London, New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ocean Portal Team. n.d. Gulf Oil Spill. Smithsonian Ocean Portal. https://ocean.si.edu/conservation/pollution/gulf-oil-spill. Accessed 13 November 2018.

  • Osofsky, H., K. Baxter-Kauf, B. Hammer, and B.M. Mailander. 2013. Environmental Justice and the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. NYU Environmental Law Journal 99 (2179): 99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osofsky, H.M., J. Shadian, and S.L. Fechtelkotter. 2016. Arctic Energy Cooperation. UC Davis Law Review 1431 (1): 0–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • PAME (Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment). 2014. The Arctic Offshore Oil and Gas Guidelines: Systems Safety Management and Safety Culture Report. Akureyri: Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME. https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/handle/11374/418. Accessed 29 July 2019.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravna, Ø., and K. Svendson. 2018. Securing the Coastal Sámi Culture and Livelihood. In Governance of Arctic Offshore Oil and Gas, ed. C. Pelaudeix and E.M. Base, 153–166. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reinert, H. 2018. Notes from a Projected Sacrifice Zone. ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies 17 (2): 597–6178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shadian, J. 2017. Reimagining Political Space: The limits of Arctic Indigenous Self-determination in International Governance? In Governing Arctic Change: Global Perspectives, ed. K. Stephen and S. Knecht, 43–57. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sidortsov, R. 2016. A Perfect Moment During Imperfect Times: Arctic Energy Research in a Low-Carbon Era. Energy Research and Social Science 16: 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2016.03.023.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stammler, F., and E. Wilson. 2006. Dialogue for Development: An Exploration of Relations Between Oil and Gas Companies, Communities, and the State. Sibirica 5 (2): 1–42. https://doi.org/10.3167/136173606780490739.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Struzik, E. 2014. A New Frontier for Fracking: Drilling Near the Arctic Circle. Yale Environment 360, August 18. https://e360.yale.edu/features/a_new_frontier_for_fracking_drilling_near_the_arctic_circle. Accessed 14 November 2018.

  • Toth, K. 2018. NWT’s Energy and Climate Plans Include Promoting Natural Gas. CBC Online, May 2. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nwt-climate-change-natural-gas-1.4644221. Accessed 14 November 2018.

  • Tysiachniouk, M.S., and A.N. Petrov. 2018. Benefit Sharing in the Arctic Energy Sector: Perspectives on Corporate Policies and Practices in Northern Russia and Alaska. Energy Research and Social Science 39 (October 2017): 29–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2017.10.014.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watt-Cloutier, S. 2009. Reclaiming the Moral High Ground: Indigenous Peoples, Climate Change, and Human Rights. Nunatsiaq News Online, December 21. https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/4567_reclaiming_the_moral_high_ground/. Accessed 29 July 2019.

  • Wilkinson, J., C. Beegle-Krause, K.U. Evers, N. Hughes, A. Lewis, M. Reed, and P. Wadhams. 2017. Oil Spill Response Capabilities and Technologies for Ice-Covered Arctic Marine Waters: A Review of Recent Developments and Established Practices. Ambio 46 (s3): 423–441. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-017-0958-y.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willox, A.C., S.L. Harper, J.D. Ford, V.L. Edge, K. Landman, K. Houle, S. Blake, and C. Wolfrey. 2013. Climate Change and Mental Health: An Exploratory Case Study from Rigolet, Nunatsiavut, Canada. Social Sciences and Medicine 75 (3): 538–547.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E. 2016. What Is the Social Licence to Operate? Local Perceptions of Oil and Gas Projects in Russia’s Komi Republic and Sakhalin Island. Extractive Industries and Society 3 (1): 73–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2015.09.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yakovleva, N. 2011. Oil Pipeline Construction in Eastern Siberia: Implications for Indigenous People. Geoforum 42 (6): 708–719. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2011.05.005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young, O.R. 2005. Governing the Arctic: From Cold War Theater to Mosaic of Cooperation. Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations 11 (1): 9–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Johnson, N. (2020). Extractive Energy and Arctic Communities. In: Coates, K.S., Holroyd, C. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Arctic Policy and Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20557-7_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics