World Ocean Radio - Arctic
This week marks the 750th episode of World Ocean Radio: 15 years of weekly short audio that reaches millions around the globe, sharing concepts, demands, and solutions related to ocean technology and science, policy, examples of best practice, personal reflections, and solutions for how the ocean connects, sustains, inspires, and engages us in common history, traditions, sustenance, communication, community, and well-being. Thank you for listening!
Pope Francis, outspoken voice for climate and the environment, passed away on Monday, April 21st. Throughout his reign as leader of the Catholic Church, he was very clear in his views on climate change as a real factor in today's world, and expressed that we must understand and respond to these problems for our future survival. In 2015, Pope Francis issued a papal encyclical entitled "Laudato Si--on Care of our Common Home" in which he addressed the moral imperative to steward our natural world for the benefit of succeeding generations. At many times in the address, he mentions fresh water and oceans; this week on World Ocean Radio we revisit some of the Pope's ideas and perspectives that demonstrate a deep reverence for natural systems.
This week on World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill shares observations from a recent trip to Greenland in collaboration with the Arctic Futures Institute. While visiting the four major coastal towns along the western coast, the melting glaciers that cover most of Greenland were dramatically visible. In this episode he discusses the several consequences of climate change and the rapid loss of sea ice.
This week on World Ocean Radio we provide our annual observations on the Arctic Circle Conference in Reykjavik, Iceland. This year's report highlights not only a seemingly insurgent presence by the Chinese but also a diminished presence by the United States, whose typically consequential interest in the Arctic was lacking. Also noticeably absent from the conversation: a perceived decline of representation by the Arctic's indigenous peoples. We'll discuss these things and more in this week's episode.
The first Arctic highway was the sea: a moving, shifting, frozen system that allowed its inhabitants to be sustained for generations. Since 1974, two more roads have been carved from the Arctic landscape: the first to connect oil fields in the north to consumers in the south and the second, opened this year, to connect Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk. This second project, more of a local endeavor, links the land's indigenous peoples to economic opportunity and affordable goods and resources. This week on World Ocean Radio we talk about these three roads and their impacts on the Arctic, for better and for worse.
As fisheries worldwide are being depleted by over-fishing and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU), interest in an ever-expanding Arctic is growing exponentially. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill outlines a 2015 meeting of five Arctic nations during which catch limits were imposed; and a follow-up meeting in 2017 in which delegates from five additional countries took the agreement a step forward toward legally binding, an effort that would prevent commercial fishing in parts of the Central Arctic Ocean until science-based fisheries management measures could be put in place.
In mid-June the World Ocean Observatory co-hosted the Arctic Summer Institute in Portland, Maine in partnership with the University of Maine School of Law and the Climate Change Institute. The purpose of the week-long conference was to advance the conversation of Arctic issues and events related to climate change. In this week's episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill outlines the long-standing agenda of traditional Arctic meetings and the ways that new investigations, conversations, and constructive exercises such as those carried out during the Arctic Summer Institute have the potential to further facilitate outcomes born of unexpected ideas and imaginative exploration among young thinkers and Arctic experts.
We live in an age of constant chatter, yet we are failing globally to communicate meaningfully on issues related to Arctic governance and its natural resources. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill discusses the many interests in Arctic oil, gas, uranium, fisheries, tourism, trade, and transportation in a changing Arctic, and questions why a constructive dialogue between native peoples and corporate interests has yet to be formulated.
The first Arctic highway was the sea: a moving, shifting system that allowed its inhabitants to be sustained for generations. Since 1974, two more roads have been carved from the Arctic landscape: the first to connect oil fields in the north to consumers in the south; and the second, opened this year, to connect Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk. This second project, more of a local endeavor, links the land's indigenous peoples to economic opportunity and affordable goods and resources. This week we talk about these three roads and their impacts on the Arctic, for better and for worse.
This week on World Ocean Radio: part five of a multi-part series on the Arctic. In this episode, host Peter Neill discusses the ongoing debate over geological claims to the Arctic and who owns the rights to the natural resources in the vast outer limits of Arctic waters.
This week on World Ocean Radio: part four of a multi-part series on the Arctic. In this episode, host Peter Neill examines the rights of the indigenous peoples of the Arctic; their role in governance and their limited powers at the bargaining table; the realities of their health and welfare; and the myriad effects of management, policy, and outside interests by foreign governments.
As fisheries worldwide are being depleted by over-fishing and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU), interest in an ever-expanding Arctic is growing exponentially. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill outlines a July 2015 meeting of five Arctic nations during which catch limits were imposed; and a follow-up meeting in April 2017 in which delegates from five additional countries took the agreement a step forward toward legally binding, an effort that would prevent commercial fishing in parts of the Central Arctic Ocean until science-based fisheries management measures could be put in place.
This week on World Ocean Radio: part three of a multi-part series on the Arctic. In this episode, host Peter Neill discusses the melting of sea ice, its causes, the adaptation of native Arctic people, and the potential for future exploitation and passage as sea ice continues to recede.
This week on World Ocean Radio: part two of a multi-part series on the Arctic. In this episode, host Peter Neill examines the Finland chairmanship of the Arctic Council (2017-2019), outlines their statement of intent, speculates about why the Finland approach is so different from past agendas, and ways in which their innovative approach may make it possible for them to succeed for the Arctic.
This week on World Ocean Radio: part one of a multi-part series on the Arctic. In this episode, host Peter Neill examines governance, oversight, resources, and the conditions and challenges facing the Arctic. He describes the work of the Arctic Council, an eight-nation consortium with jurisdiction in the region, and outlines the processes and responsibilities of stewardship by those member nations.
As Finland begins to outline its Arctic Council agenda for the next two years, Russian involvement and investment in the region continues to grow at a fast pace. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill explains Russia’s history in the Arctic and their present and future interest, centered primarily on the extraction of oil and mineral resources. And he cautions that Russia, with their advantage to the region via fleet size and access, shows little concern for the consequences of the inevitable negative outcomes from increased exploitative activity.
The Polar Code is a new document of the International Maritime Organization to begin to frame the safe use of the Polar region by the inevitable increased shipping traffic to the Arctic. In this episode of World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill outlines the code and hails its thoroughness while questioning the preparedness of increased maritime traffic and the risks involved to this highly vulnerable natural ecosystem.
World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill recently returned from the Arctic Circle Forum in Nuuk, Greenland, where he made some interesting observations about those in attendance and the shifting attitudes away from the business-as-usual interests in Arctic resources toward more assertive ideas by Greenlanders to create new opportunities using their resources and investing in the area's people within the context of historical values and cultural traditions.
In this fourth and final episode in a series on writers who have shaped his interest in the ocean and the natural world, host Peter Neill discusses the work of American author, essayist, and fiction writer Barry Lopez, whose “Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape” stands as a classic--one of the most encompassing and evocative portraits of a natural place ever written.
In October 2015 Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau overwhelmingly won the Canadian election for Prime Minister. In advance of the election, Premier Taptuna of the Arctic territory Nunavut wrote an open letter to the candidates. In it, he asked each to outline their vision for the future of the Arctic. The indigenous people of Canada have long endured unresolved discussions about issues such as environmental sustainability, economic and educational opportunity, access to technology and basic services, and more. Taptuna’s letter may have helped shape an election, further a debate, and generate a response toward a more sustainable Arctic.
The Arctic conversation concludes this week with "An Arctic Vision." In this episode, host Peter Neill focuses on the indigenous Arctic community and how a sustainable economy might be developed based on new policies, practices, employment opportunities, and benefits for the people who live there. And he outlines three key areas in which a sustainable approach might succeed in the Arctic: fishing, shipping, and energy.
The conversation continues this week about the future of the Arctic. In this episode of World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill addresses a question he posed in last week's episode regarding the role that the United States might play during the 2-year Chairmanship of the Arctic Council (2015-2017). He uses the specific objectives and initiatives of the U.S. "One Ocean" Plan to back up why he is optimistic about the future of the Arctic.
The conversation continues this week about the future of the Arctic. In this episode of World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill will argue that now is the time to look to the Antarctic region and their long-standing treaty which has there served as an achievement of sustainability and governance. And he will ask, "Why could the Antarctic agreement not apply just as effectively to the Arctic region?"
The conversation continues about the future of the Arctic this week with further outcomes from the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, Iceland. During the Assembly there were conversations around the inevitable development of the Arctic couched within the framework of the 'precautionary principle" which implies that there is a social responsibility to protect the public from exposure to harm. In this episode host Peter Neill will argue that given the risks and challenges to developing the Arctic we should be considering less risky opportunities, providing a more sustainable return on investment while providing direct community benefits to the indigenous populations.
In a continuing conversation about the future of the Arctic, host Peter Neill shares his concerns about the disconnect between a strong commitment to Arctic conservation and sustainability and the Arctic as a place for inevitable economic development. And he asks, why would we put the Arctic at risk? Why should we drill there? Why should we disrupt the sea floor and natural systems? And finally, what is the true value of the Arctic?
