Human Security, Energy and Food in the Arctic under Climate Change
Background and Objectives
The purpose of this Research Program is to assess the impact of global warming on the Arctic through observations of soil, ecosystems, etc., and to elucidate its social impacts in terms of human energy resources and food. Changes in the local environment will affect energy resources, fisheries and agricultural production, and distribution, which in turn will affect the food security of Arctic societies, including indigenous societies, and the way non-Arctic societies consume food. Energy and food are the biological basis for the existence of human society, and energy resources are closely intertwined with the economic policies and foreign policies of the Arctic nations, and thus affect the overall picture of global society. Food is not only the foundation of economic survival but also the source of regional cultural identity. In this respect, understanding the natural environmental changes related to the biological production of Arctic food and the responses of society to these changes is extremely important for understanding the Arctic.
Based on these issue concerns, this Research Program has three Sub Programs to capture the dynamism of change in both nature and social culture. Specifically, (1) detection and impact assessment of permafrost degradation, (2) impact assessment of the Arctic energy industry and local economy, and (3) impact assessment of indigenous people's diet, traditional culture, and health and safety. In relation to human security in the Arctic, we aimed to elucidate the academic knowledge for the realization of freedom from threats, freedom from scarcity, and freedom to live with dignity. Specifically, we aim to accumulate scientific knowledge and return the results to society in order to address the threat of natural disasters originating from climate change, to eliminate environmental pollution and economic disparities related to energy resource development, and to sustainably develop the traditional culture and identity of indigenous peoples.
Research Organization
In this Research Program, the core disciplines were defined according to the theme of each Sub Program, and an organizational structure was adopted to enable interdisciplinary research in different fields, including the humanities and sciences. In Sub Program 1, natural geography, hydrometeorology, and remote sensing are the core disciplines, and human geography and cultural anthropology have been added. Sub Program 2 is based on economics, with the addition of resource engineering and cultural anthropology. Sub Program 3 is based on cultural anthropology and includes linguistics and health studies. This structure makes it possible to conduct interdisciplinary studies within each Sub Program. At the same time, it also makes it possible to establish a flexible and dynamic research system through constant interactions among Sub Programs.
In terms of stakeholder relations, we collaborated with research institutions of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the University of Lapland in Finland, the International Arctic Research Center (IARC) of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (GINR), and local governments (with Russia until before the invasion of Ukraine).
Findings
Permafrost degradation was found to be a reality that was rapidly progressing on the land surface with a history of anthropogenic alteration. It was also found that this was a phenomenon recognized by local residents. The various environmental changes brought about by permafrost degradation have raised the need for further collaboration on future responses based on scientific assessments, as local people face changes that no longer apply to their traditional knowledge of their own livelihoods. From this, we can see that the effects of climate change do not act on a given parcel of ecosystems in the same way, but that land use due to human activities in the recent past has created differences in their effects. Therefore, we suggested that climate change impact assessment can only be properly understood through the filter of human activities.
On the other hand, it was found that the development of energy resources such as oil and natural gas, accelerated by climate change, has contributed to the economic development of the country concerned, but has not been fully returned to the economic and social development of the producing regions. It was also confirmed that the impact of climate change on households and health is not large but not negligible. The development of the resource industry has changed dramatically with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Production declined and the Russian government's development plans changed, while its exports were replaced by China, India, and Turkey. In addition, exports from Western Siberia were halved because they were destined for Europe, while those from Eastern Siberia increased because China is the main exporter. In other words, regional factors and interstate relations have a significant impact on the development of the resource industry. These results clearly show that although climate change may stimulate resource development, its economic effects are defined by the external relations of the state concerned, and its impact on resource-producing regions is defined by its internal policies. In other words, the study suggested that resource development can only be fully understood if the nation and the regions within it are analyzed separately.
This Research Program explored Arctic indigenous communities with a particular focus on coastal communities and traditional fisheries. As a result, it was determined that there is little impact on Arctic commercial fisheries, which are expanding in response to climate change. However, the increased demand for fishing resources has impacted indigenous fisheries in the form of increased sport fishing and poaching. On the other hand, we found that indigenous people themselves are participating in commercial fisheries, and have also begun to cultivate seaweed. The study also showed that changes in livelihoods and the increase in commercial activities have led to a shift from traditional food to modern industrial food, resulting in health problems for the local people, and that the modernization of lifestyles has increased waste, which makes it difficult to solve problems within indigenous communities and to sustain indigenous communities without the participation of NGOs and government assistance. These results indicate that it is difficult to properly assess the impact of climate change on indigenous communities without taking into account not only climate change itself but also the social events that may or may not be caused by climate change.
Summary
To summarize these achievements in relation to human security in the Arctic, it is necessary to envision and understand the interrelationships among various social levels, including the state, local economies, and indigenous societies, in order to ensure freedom from threats, freedom from scarcity, and freedom to live with dignity. The Russia-Ukraine war has also, ironically, revealed that it is the state that has a decisive impact on human security. This is also true for the positioning of the factor of climate change, which has demonstrated the need to assess at the same level how states assess and respond to climate change, in addition to their natural scientific assessment of it.
