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The Battle of the Arctic: To Drill or Not to Drill?

Shared Voices 2021 The Battle Of The Arctic To Drill Or Not To Drill

By Angelina Giordano, Graduate (BASc in Environment), McGill University, Manager, GEV Corp

On December 22, 2020, during the sleepy holidays when people were beginning to cozy up with a warm beverage, the Supreme Court of Norway delivered a massive bombshell. They dismissed the case People v. Arctic Oil, commonly referred to as the Norwegian climate lawsuit, which was an attempt by Greenpeace and other plaintiffs to stop new oil exploration in the Barents Sea.

Eleven justices ruled in favor of the State, represented by the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, to continue oil exploration in the Barents Sea, and the minority of four justices ruled in favor of the People plaintiffs. The minority decided that there were “procedural errors” made when the southeast part of the Barents Sea was opened in 2013, because “future global climate emissions” were not incorporated into the original environmental review of the project. For these reasons, the minority argued that the People of Norway’s appeal should be granted, and the oil exploration permits assigned in the Barents Sea should be re-evaluated based on an environmental impact assessment that includes future emissions associated with these projects.

Whilst this may have been the minority’s perspective, an opinion poll shows that most of the public in Norway believe that Arctic oil exploration should be halted due to the environmental and climate consequences of continued drilling, and that most people polled would have supported a judgement that limited future exploration. So why then did the court decide that most of the public was wrong and side with the petroleum industry? It may be due to the lack of proof, since most of these lawsuits are trying to prevent something from happening in the future, or other numerous complicated legal issues.

Although there may have been a “climate loss” in Norway, other countries have taken major steps to limit oil exploration in the Arctic. After former President Trump had approved and begun selling oil drilling licenses in the Arctic refuge, the new administration has completely changed course. On his first day in office, President Joe Biden immediately signed an executive order that put a “temporary moratorium on oil and gas leasing activities in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,” instructing the Department of the Interior to conduct a new, more detailed environmental review of the projects. Another climate win happened in December 2020, just before the verdict in the People v. Arctic Oil case, when the government of Denmark decided to stop all new oil and gas exploration in the Danish North Sea.

There have been some climate wins and some climate losses over the past few months. The world will continue to watch with nervous eyes as governments, NGOs, and major companies struggle to answer the question – to drill or not to drill?

Table of Contents

  1. Letter from the President

    By Lars Kullerud

  2. Editorial

    By Outi Snellman

  3. UArctic – an Indispensable Arctic Actor

    By Annika Saarikko

  4. Growing Connections Between Scotland and UArctic

    By Richard Lochhead

  5. Canada’s Vision for Arctic Youth Empowerment

    By David Sproule

  6. In Memoriam: Oliver William (Bill) Heal, 1934-2021

  7. Arctic Philanthropist: Interview with Frederik Paulsen

    By Hannele Palviainen

  8. Interviews of UArctic Board members: Anne Husebekk

    By Arne O. Holm

  9. Interviews of UArctic Board members: Evon Peter

    By Arne O. Holm

  10. Interviews of UArctic Board members: Mikhail Pogodaev

    By Arne O. Holm

  11. Becoming Circumpolar: Reflections on Origins and Outcomes

    By Amanda Graham

  12. New Directions in Circumpolar Studies: Launching the Læra Institute

    By Anthony Speca, Anthony Speca, Heather Nicol and Gary Wilson

  13. UArctic at a Glance

  14. Arena for the Gap Analysis of the Existing Arctic Science Co-Operations

    By Hanna Lappalainen and Stephany Mazon

  15. North-Eastern Federal University: Sustainable Development & Bridging the Arctic and Asia

    By Vladimir Suzdalov

  16. UArctic-HIT Training Centre: A Bridge Between Arctic and Chinese Universities

    By Yi-Fan Li

  17. 14 Years of Arctic Indigenous Collaboration with BEBO – How Has It Been?

    By Marina Falevitch and Mika Aromäki

  18. Collecting Knowledge from Finnmark’s Plateau to Japan

    By Amanda Åsberg

  19. Arctic Makes: Observations, Lessons, and Solutions from the Geographic Periphery

    By Svetlana Usenyuk-Kravchuk and Timo Jokela

  20. CHARTER – Towards a Broader Understanding of Arctic Complexity

    By Philip Burgess

  21. Eating Plants to Mitigate the Impacts of Climate Change on Tundra?

    By Isabel C. Barrio et al

  22. A Sense of Home Across the Arctic Through Wild Foods

    By Harmony Jade Wayner

  23. Improved Water Access and Sanitary Conditions in Rural Arctic Settlements

    By Pernille Erland Jensen and Aaron Dotson

  24. The Arctic Yearbook: An Open Access Platform for Arctic Studies and Research

    By Lassi Heininen and Heather Exner-Pirot

  25. 6G as a Universal Connectivity Provider in the 2030s

    By Harri Saarnisaari, Hanna Saarela and Marja-Matinmikko-Blue

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