Several years after the signing of the Paris Agreement, oil and gas production continues at a fast pace despite a near global recognition of the ongoing energy transition away from fossil fuels (IEA, 2021a, 2021b). The increasing demand for oil and gas caused by the post-pandemic lockdown economic recovery threatens the momentum gained by the energy transition.
Sidortsov, Roman and Anna Badyina
Several years after the signing of the Paris Agreement, oil and gas production continues at a fast pace despite a near-global recognition of the ongoing energy transition away from fossil fuels (IEA, 2021a, 2021b). The increasing demand for oil and gas caused by the post-pandemic lockdown economic recovery threatens the momentum gained by the energy transition. The momentum is further threatened by Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine and the corresponding bans and restrictions of many oil and gas-importing nations on Russian hydrocarbons. While the rapidly increased prices and supply shortages only strengthen the energy transition case, the interdependencies, and inertia of the current energy system dictate that the current energy crisis is resolved largely by rearranging the supply options and increasing oil and gas production elsewhere, including the Arctic.
In the early 2000s, the Arctic became an increasingly coveted region for finding and developing new hydrocarbon resources, prompted by the historic production and yet-to-be-confirmed estimates (Sidortsov, 2016; Wood-Donnelly and Bartels, 2022). Several factors make oil and gas development in the region an uncertain, if not reckless, enterprise. These include (1) legal and regulatory risks due to existing and prospective carbon controls; (2) rapidly changing Arctic landscapes due to climate change, which subjects oil and gas infrastructure to significant physical impacts; (3) high capital costs needed to develop remote and challenging fields; (4) oil and gas price volatility; and (5) the uncertain geopolitical position and problematic political, economic and social situation in the Arctic’s largest producer of hydrocarbons, Russia (Wood-Donnelly and Bartels, 2022). Some of these risks, such as shut-in oil wells due to thawed permafrost, have already impacted the ongoing oil and gas activities, resulting in damage to ecosystems (Sidortsov and Gavrilina, 2018). With accelerating physical and policy changes, expansive and costly oil and gas production, transportation and processing facilities are on track to become stranded assets impacting the socio-economic fabric of Arctic communities and fragile Arctic ecosystems (Sidortsov, 2012).
The overarching objective of this chapter is two-fold: (1) to make a case for the inclusion of collective capabilities (CCs) as a key element of analytical and conceptual energy justice frameworks; and (2) to underscore the value of CCs for conceptualizing and assessing the impact of fossil fuel-centric, capital-intensive and long-term economic projects and programmatic activities on the energy transition in the Arctic and other historic oil and gas producing regions.
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JUSTNORTH
JUSTNORTH is a project designed to explore the multitude of ethical systems that coexist in the Arctic, as a starting point to assess the viability of new economic activities in the region. For the millions of people who live both inside and outside the Arctic and are affected by these economic activities, decisions are made through utilitarian ethical principles: viability of an activity is based on profitability and technical feasibility, with little regard to questions of whether it is ethically right or wrong for the impacted human populations or the environment.
Global climate change has launched intense speculation on Arctic resources. Increasing geopolitical tensions among some of the Arctic states increases the importance of respecting different value systems while finding common values to help strengthen the links between Arctic and non-Arctic entities. Significant practice and policy gaps in existing Arctic economic activities have led to development that is unsustainable.
Through understanding current practices of development in the Arctic through the lens of 18 case studies, JUSTNORTH aims to develop conceptual frameworks, indices and a negotiation tool, for reconciling multiple ethics and value systems. These will provide a cornerstone for determining the viability of economic activities in the Arctic, as well as clarify policy, legal, and regulatory pathways for implementing ethic-based decision-making principles.
Project details
- Project title: “Toward Just, Ethical and Sustainable Arctic Economies, Environments and Societies”
- Funding scheme: European Union Horizon 2020 Programme (EU H2020, Grant agreement ID: 869327)
- Duration: 3 years (1 June 2020 – 30 November 2023)
- Project coordinator: Uppsala Universitet, Dr. Corine Wood-Donnelly
- Project website: www.justnorth.eu/