Author: nilsolav

 

Once again, the AE Bergen Hub is organising a panel discussion at the upcoming Arctic Frontiers 2024 conference in Tromsø. The conference which takes place from January 29th – February 1st will include our very own session titled A new Arctic energy mix – at what costs? The Finnmark example.

We welcome you to join us for this important discussion which will take place on 1^st February, during the Arctic Frontiers 2024 conference in Tromsø. You can also follow a live streaming of the event on February 1st at 11:00 – 12:30.

Background

In August 2023, the Norwegian Government´s announced its decision to change the energy source at Melkøya’s Liquid Natural Gas plant, from natural gas to electrical power. This announcement has since sparked a polarised debate. This decision has ramifications that extend beyond local considerations. The debate mirrors numerous global challenges related to the green transition and the need for more energy.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that there’s a probability exceeding 50% that global temperatures will increase to or exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius between 2021 and 2040. Norway, much like the rest of the world, is struggling to achieve the 1.5 or 2-degree targets set by the Paris Agreement. The prospect of nearing 3 degrees appears likely considering current commitments and implementation. While the decision to electrify Melkeøya will have a significant positive impact on the reduction of Norway’s inland CO2 emissions, many fear negative consequences such as the impact on local industry, jobs, communities, nature, reindeer herding and energy security.

Like most Arctic regions, the population of Finnmark is rapidly decreasing, and the demand for energy plays a pivotal role, for example in the creation of new job opportunities. What amount of energy and from which sources, is required to compensate for the electrification of Melkøya? And how does this conflict with recommendations from the UN’s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)? These recommendations state that «The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health, and quality of life worldwide».

About our panel discussion

The situation in Melkøya raises many issues. A central question is how to establish legitimacy by considering both scientific knowledge and stakeholder interests. Our panel discussion at Arctic Frontiers 2024 will delve into these dilemmas and explore potential solutions offered by advancing technologies and systems, such as multisource micro-energy plants, hydrogen solutions, offshore wind, and even possibly nuclear power.

 

Speakers and panelists:

Eystein Jansen is professor of palaeoclimatology at the University of Bergen. Jansen was the founding director of the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, which he led for 13 years. Jansen is Academic Director for the Academia Europaea Bergen Knowledge Hub and Vice President of the European Research Council (ERC) and a member of Academia Europaea, the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, The Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences and the Norwegian Scientific Academy for Polar Research. Jansen was in 2019 awarded the Brøgger prize and the Meltzer prize for excellence in research. His research has primarily dealt with the influence of changes in ocean circulation on climate and on natural climate changes.

Lars-Henrik Paarup Michelsen has been working professionally with climate change and energy transition for more than a decade and has served as the director of the Norwegian Climate Foundation, Norway’s green think tank, since 2015. He lives in Bergen, where the foundation is headquartered. His professional experience comes from politics and public service, and he holds a degree in comparative politics. The Climate Foundation´s cooperates closely with academic institutions and its work cover a broad range of issues – from decarbonizing deep-sea shipping to financial climate risk.

 

 

Anne Ingeborg Myhr, SVP NORCE Climate & Environment. Myhr has extensive experience from inter- and transdisciplinary projects on emerging technologies. Main focus for research is on future food systems, sustainable aquaculture, protection of the environment and biodiversity, and the circular economy. This includes studies on ELSA and RRI with novel technologies. Myhr holds a Dr. scient within medical biology and a M.Sc in biotechnology. Myhr has extensive experience from inter- and transdisciplinary projects on emerging technologies including genome editing.

 

 

Ole Øvretveit is the project manager on the Arctic Science Collaboration and diplomacy project at the Academia Europaea Bergen Hub. Øvretveit is currently Director of the Coastal Impact Hub (Østfinmark kystutviklingssenter), which is a pilot project funded by the Norwegian government. Previously he served as Director of Arctic Frontiers for eight years. Subsequently, Øvretveit served as Director of Science to Policy for the Sustainable Development Goals at the University of Bergens. Ole Øvretveit has also provided leadership with Initiative West, a think tank focusing on sustainable ocean economy, societal growth and the green transition from the west coast of Norway.

 

Helge Nitteberg (42) is editor-in-chief in Nordlys, the biggest newspaper in Northern Norway. Nitteberg was only 14 years only when he wrote his first news article in the local newspaper Folkebladet in Finnsnes. Later, he worked for Adresseavisen in Trondheim, before he started working for Nordlys in Tromsø in 2003. He worked as a journalist until he became news editor in May 2010. In June 2016 he became editor-in-chief of Nordlys. Throughout his career, Nitteberg has been covering all kinds of topics such as politics, sports, crime and much more.

 

 

Sigrid Ina Simonsen is director of the regional office NHO Arctic of The Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO). NHO is Norway’s largest employers’ organization and has more than 32,000 member companies. NHO Arctic covers Troms, Finnmark and Svalbard. Simonsen previously held the position as head of northern areas in Offshore Norway, and has also worked as communication leader in Equinor. She was County Councillor for Business Development and Culture for the Labour party in Troms County from 2017-2020. She holds a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Bergen.

 

 

Jonas Kristiansen Nøland is currently an Associate Professor of energy conversion with NTNU, an Associate Professor II with USN, a senior member of the IEEE, a researcher within Nuclear Energy’s role in a Renewable Energy System (NERES-project), a coordinator of NTNU’s Clean Aviation research initiative, and a communication manager for the hydropower system project SysOpt. He holds a PhD in Engineering Physics from Uppsala University – Angstrom Laboratory. Since 2022, he has been part of NTNU’s Outstanding Academic Fellows Programme. He is serving as an Associate Editor for the American scientific journals: IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, and IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION. From 2022, he is also the Chair for the IEEE Power and Energy Society Chapter of Norway.

Geir Vollsæter, representing the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) of Troms & Finnmark, has more than two decades experience in the oil, gas and power sectors in Norway, Europe, and the US. He recently joined Pharos Advisors following many years at Industry Energy, a union within LO Norway. Energy, power and climate policy keeps him motivated and engaged at work and in civil society.

 

 

 

Sigurd Kvammen Rafaelsen is mayor of Lebesby municipality for the Labor Party. He was born and raised in Kirkenes and moved to Kjøllefjord in 2010. Rafaelsen has been active in politics since he moved to Kjøllefjord. In 2011, he was elected as a municipal board representative in Lebesby municipality. Rafaelsen took over as mayor of Lebesby municipality after the election in 2019. In addition to his role as mayor, Rafaelsen is deputy representative to the National Assembley for the period 2021-2025. He also holds positions as chairman of the National Association of Norwegian Wind Power Municipalities,  and as chairman of the Natural Resource Municipalities. He is also deputy leader of Finnmark Arbeiderparti and a board member of Finnmark Havfiske A. Rafaelsen is a teacher by education, and also has a bachelor’s degree in political science as well as a year’s study in German language from UiT – Norway’s Arctic University.

 

The AE-Bergen report «The Future of Science Diplomacy in the Arctic» will see it’s continuation as the project now called «Rethinking Arctic collaboration» has been awarded a grant of 400 000 NOK from UArctic, for further research on the topic. Several partners will work together with AE-Bergen for the continued project. The initial meeting of the partners took place on November 29^th.

This project was initiated in the autumn of 2022, and has already resulted in a side-event at the Arctic Frontiers Conference, and a report now available from the AE-Bergen website. The grant from UArctic will secure the continuity of the project, as well as open new avenues of research and new partnerships.

Representatives of the partners were present at the initial, digital meeting on November 29th. The partners – Alfred Wegner Institute, Germany, Nord University, Norway, and Dartmouth College, USA, were represented at the meeting by Dr. Volker Rachhold of AW Institute, Frode Nilsen of Nord University and Melody Brown Burkins of Dartmouth College. From the Steering committee, Lise Øvreås, Professor and President of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, attended. From AE-Bergen Hub, Eystein Jansen, Kristin Bakken and Nils Olav Sæverås attended. Further partners are The Macdonald-Laurier Institute and the international NGO International Center of Reindeer Husbandry.

Ice-cold relationship

The summary of the project reads: “The tight connection between science and diplomacy in the Arctic has traditionally helped reduce geopolitical tensions and facilitated international resource management. However, after Russia’s invasion in Ukraine, the Russo-western relationship has entered an ice-cold face. Due to the war and international sanctions, science, science-informed decisions, and science diplomacy suffer severely. Reduced international Arctic science collaboration may have severe consequences for climate research and other important scientific topics like social science and ocean ecosystems.

The objective of the project is to understand what the effects of war are on scientific collaborations and the volume and value of arctic science in the north. And, in the light of various discussions in the scientific community, to elevate a discussion on what principles should be the foundation for political decisions on science collaboration across borders in turbulente times. And finally, what may become the characteristics of the future Arctic science collaboration architecture”.

The first report from Academia Europaea Bergen on «The Future of Science Diplomacy in the Arctic» was published in the autumn of 2023, and is available from our website. 

International experts

For the continued project, the project coordinator will be AE-Bergen Hub director Eystein Jansen, while the project manager is political scientist Ole Øvretveit.

– First and foremost, the continuation of the project will give us the opportunity to work in a more structured and strategic way with some of the best experts on this issue internationally. With academic partners from both Germany, Canada, and the US, and also organizations representing indigenous experience and competence, we can include both broader and sharper perspectives on this issue, Ole Øvretveit says.

– The issue of Science Diplomacy in the Arctic and how this is affected by the freeze in the Russo-western relationship following the Russian war in Ukraine, will probably be with us for years to come. The longer this conflict and the resulting political instability lasts, the harder it will be to restart Science diplomacy efforts, Eystein Jansen says.

I am writing to you after the first snowfall in Bergen and after an unusually dry and sunny autumn. This coincides with the opening of COP28, that will provide a stocktake of how countries are living up to their pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Despite the need for urgency, the status unfortunately looks as bleak as an early winter day in the high North.

Our work and daily life, both as citizens and scientists, are severely impacted by the geopolitical situation characterised by increased conflicts and turmoil. This has had an impact on the activities of the AE Bergen Hub and will continue to do so in the years to come. We cannot perform our research in isolation. Scientists must provide and share their knowledge but should if possible, also engage in opportunities to use research and scientific collaboration to reduce tensions through cross-border contacts – thus participate in what is often called ‘science diplomacy’. One of our Hub’s main strategic priorities has always been ‘the Arctic’, and scientific cooperation in this area is now highly affected by the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Our focus has been the fate of scientific collaboration and scientific studies in the Arctic as it has changed dramatically due to both the war and the following sanctions. Throughout 2022 and 2023 our Hub has organised a project where we have analysed some of the effects through, amongst other sources, interviews with many of the stakeholders in Arctic Research. We also held a successful event with key stakeholders at the 2023 Arctic Frontiers conference. This led to a report which is published on our website. We have also been discussed this issue on SAPEA’s podcast.

A critical effect of the Russian invasion is the loss of key scientific data from the Arctic. Russia covers about 40% of the Arctic and the region is undergoing a huge transformation as global warming continues. We really need data to assess the situation, as 2023 is by far the warmest year ever recorded, with global temperatures more than 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels.

We will follow up our engagement with a new project called ‘Rethinking Arctic Collaboration’, which will launch before Christmas. The project is funded by UArctic and with support from our host University of Bergen. This project includes academic and non-academic partners from Canada, USA and Europe, who will seek knowledge from experts and stakeholders to further map the situation and hopefully advise as to how scientific collaboration and science diplomacy can be recovered again.

Continuing an important outreach activity from previous years, our Hub has organised a series of lectures throughout 2023in cooperation with academies such as The Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences and The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Topics have included the evolutionary meaning of cancer, seabed mining and biodiversity conservation, Arctic Ocean Policyand nature and sustainability.

I’d like to use this opportunity to wish new members from the Nordic/Baltic region a warm welcome. I hope you will engage with AE and with our Hub. We welcome your suggestions in terms of topics, events and initiatives that you think AE and/or our Hub should engage in.

I also urge our members to nominate new members. We need an influx of active younger scholars from all fields. Our Hub provides communication and administrative support for the Young Academy of Europe. We see this as a fruitful means of supporting the activity and integration of young scholars into AE activities.

One activity I am personally very hopeful for, is the work of the AE Task Force on Environment, Sustainability and Climate (TFESC), which I am part of. The Task Force came about after undertaking a poll  to gauge interest from our membership. The Task Force held a highly effective workshop in Cambridge in September, the outcomes of which were presented at the AE Annual Meeting in Munich in October. We first aim to spearhead an initiative in the area of a sustainable food system, and more initiatives will follow.

This year I have taken over as Vice-President of the ERC, with responsibilities for the physical sciences and engineering comain of this fantastic organisation which has such a key role in European research. There are many ways that connect the work in AE and our Hub with the goals and aspirations of the ERC. One way I hope to do this is to involve both the AE and the ERC in the International Decade for Science for Sustainability, a recent initiative by the UN General Assembly.

I wish all our members a peaceful and relaxing holiday period, in the hope that next year will see the world coming a bit back to its senses.

 

Eystein

Currently, Arctic climate research does not have access to climate data from 45% of the Arctic area. This is because climate data from the Russian Arctic areas is largely no longer available to the global research community, as a by-product of the Russia sanctions.

This is one of the findings in the report “The Future of Arctic Science and Science Diplomacy”, initiated by Academia Europaea Bergen, the Nordic hub for the European science academy Academia Europaea.

The absence of complete data for climate development in the Arctic is potentially dramatic, as the Arctic is seen as a “temperature gauge” for global warming. In the Arctic, temperatures are rising three times faster than generally in global warming.

Another situation demanding attention in the Arctic is the thawing of the permafrost and the methane emissions resulting from this. A complete picture of this will also require complete data from all Arctic areas including the Russian ones.

This lack of complete data is a by-product of the sanctions following the Russian war in Ukraine, sanctions that also affect cooperation with Russian scientists, including climate scientists.

Academia Europaea Bergen has commissioned the political scientist Ole Øvretveit to assemble a report on the situation for science diplomacy in the Arctic in the wake of the Russia sanctions since February 2022, with a particular focus on the consequences the lack of science diplomacy has had on the sharing of climate data and access to the collection of data.

Further follow-up of the project is ensured through a grant of NOK 400,000 from UArctic.

The complete report can be read or downloaded here. 

The topics of the report were also central to a successful event with key stakeholders at the 2023 Arctic Frontiers conference. The issue has also been the topic of a SAPEA’ podcast, with project manager Ole Øvretveit and hub director Eystein Jansen as guest of the podcast.