Abstract
This chapter presents the main features of the different institutional and legal settings in Greenland, Norway and Russia, and how these frame the management of mining activities, particularly in relation to sustainability. The common denominator for Greenland, Norway and Russia is that mining activities have developed within continually evolving national structures in terms of formal legislation and governance institutions, as well as in response to the impact of new societal discourses on mining. The way in which these changes have played out, the degree of societal change, and the way national policies connect with the mining industry in light of these changes does however differ between the three countries.
The transformation of the Greenlandic context must primarily be understood in light of the transfer of power and responsibilities from Danish to native Greenlandic rule, influenced by the need to generate revenue to support independence. By contrast, mining in the Norwegian context has in recent years been characterized by a renewed interest in the sector on the part of a relatively stable national government, influenced by the imperatives of an emerging post-petroleum era. Meanwhile, the changes in Russian society over the last few decades are certainly profound, and there is clear evidence of new sustainability-related elements being introduced into the mineral legislation. Nevertheless, the environmental protection measures applied to the Russian mineral sector are weaker and the governance tradition is clearly more centralised than is the case in Greenland or Norway.
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- 1.
Joint Norwegian Ministerial Report: “Framtid i Nord” (‘Northern Futures’) (2014).
- 2.
The Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry: Strategy for the Mineral industry (2013).
- 3.
Act no. 473 of 12 June 2009.
- 4.
Act of 19 June 2009 No. 101 relating to the acquisition and extraction of mineral resources (the Minerals Act).
- 5.
Act of 14 June 1985 No. 77: The Planning and Building Act.
- 6.
Act of 13 March 1981 No. 6: Concerning Protection against Pollution and Concerning Waste.
- 7.
The Finnmark Act transferred 95% (46,000 km2) of the area in the Finnmark county in Norway to the inhabitants of Finnmark county. This area is managed by the Finnmark Estate agency (FeFo). FeFo is a landowner enterprise which owns and administrates 95% of the land and natural resources in Finnmark.
- 8.
Within the Saami reindeer herding districts outside of Finnmark the reindeer herders are considered to have the same rights as land owners regarding notification and information. Within the county of Finnmark, surveying for mineral deposits requires a written notification to the Saami Parliament, the Finnmark Estate Agency (FeFo), and the regional reindeer herding authorities. In the county of Finnmark the right to survey for state owned minerals (see footnote on mineral ownership), and the right to take samples during exploration, require a special permit from the Directorate of Mining.
- 9.
The Minerals Act distinguishes between minerals belonging to the state and those belonging to the land owner (§7). Minerals belonging to the state: Metals with a specific weight of 5 g/cm3 or more, including chromium, manganese, molybdenum, niobium, vanadium, iron, nickel, copper, zinc, silver, gold, cobalt, lead, platinum, tin, sink, zirconium, wolfram, uranium, cadmium, thorium and ores of such metals (not including alluvial gold). Additionally, the metals titanium and arsenic and ores of these, as well as pyrrhotite and pyrite are state owned.
- 10.
The County Governor issues pollution permits for non-metallic mineral extraction, while the Norwegian Environment Agency (a directorate) issues pollution permits for state-owned minerals, primarily metals.
- 11.
Act of 9 June 1978 No. 50 Concerning the Cultural Heritage.
- 12.
Transparency Greenland’s 2012 ‘Integrity study on the public sector in Greenland’ came to the same conclusion, but highlighted risks (e.g. nepotism) and the need for better public consultation (Nordic Consulting Group 2012).
- 13.
SEA and Integration of the Environment into Strategic Decision-Making, Final Report, May 2001 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eia/sea-support.htm
- 14.
EIA Directive 97/11/EC.
- 15.
Act of 19. June 2009. No. 100.
- 16.
EIAs are required when the extraction exceeds more than 2 million tons of material, or if it affects an area larger than 0.2 km2.
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Gjertsen, A., Didyk, V., Rasmussen, R.O., Kharitonova, G., Ivanova, L. (2018). Institutional Conditions in Arctic Frontiers: The Case of Mining in Greenland, Russia and Norway. In: Dale, B., Bay-Larsen, I., Skorstad, B. (eds) The Will to Drill - Mining in Arctic Communites. Springer Polar Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62610-9_3
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