Business vs. environment debate hurts Northeners, says Arctic Economic Council

Text: Eilís Quinn, Eye on the Arctic

“There are some groups of society that would like to make this into an, either/or, competing question but you can be a good environmental steward and have business development at the same time,” Tara Sweeney, also executive vice president at Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, said at a news conference on Tuesday, after handing the AEC’s rotating chairmanship over to Finland’s Tero Vauraste.

“What the Arctic Economic Council also aims to do is to ensure that subarctic businesses who want to come and do business (here) are also good actors and good stewards. The Arctic is our home and it defines who we are as a people. We want to ensure that this is taken care of and that we have the opportunity to remain in this area because of polar growth.”

Putting business issues on the agenda

The Arctic Economic Council was a Canadian initiative under that country’s most recent Arctic Council chairmanship (2013-2015). The AEC was conceived to advise the Arctic Council on business issues. Now, it also facilitates business-to- business activities for northern-based companies or those elsewhere who want to do business in the North.

Though a separate body from the Arctic Council, the AEC leadership changes hands amongst the eight circumpolar countries in concert with the Arctic Council rotating two-year chairmanships.

Climate adaptation

The changing Arctic environment is creating both challenges, and opportunities for northern communities and the business community has a role to play responding to both, says the AEC.

“Climate change means we need new innovations to meet (environmental) targets which is a business opportunity,” said Tero Vauraste, the incoming AEC chair and president and CEO of Finnish state-owned icebreaker operator Arctica Ltd.

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Erling Kvadsheim, AEC Vice Chair, Norway and director, international affairs at the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association, says a pan-Arctic approach to share best practices and technologies will become more and more important in the years ahead.

“Climate is a global issue whether the activities influencing the environment take place in the Arctic or along the Equator,” Kvadsheim said.

“The AEC is creating an arena for cooperation between the countries and then actually utilizing the different experiences and the different knowledge that we have in the Arctic countries.

“That is an important thing.”

This story is posted on Independent Barents Observer as part of Eye on the Arctic, a collaborative partnership between public and private circumpolar media organizations.