January 4, 2002
The circumpolar world in 2001
Global warming, international
treaties and the fracturing of a major Arctic transportation link.
As fears grow over the
onset of global warming, Arctic residents see the signing of international treaties
such as the Kyoto protocol and an international agreement controlling the use
of Persistent Organic Pollutants, or POPs.
Meanwhile, a major circumpolar
link is fractured as a 20-year-old scheduled airline service between Canada
and Greenland dies.
January
- Norway plans to lift
its ban on whale exports. Norwegians have been hunting whales since 1993,
despite an international moratorium on the hunt. Norway's whale products have
until now been sold only within the country. But with the lifting of the ban,
whale meat and blubber could end up being sold abroad, possibly to Japan,
a heavy whale-consuming nation.
- Temperatures plummet
in Russia's central and far eastern regions. In the Kemerova district, a 30-year
record is broken when the thermometer shows -57 C.
- The UN Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change projects even more intense climate changes during
the next century. The report's draft summary says the Earth's average temperature
will rise 1.4 to 5.8 C by 2100, and sea levels are likely to jump by nearly
a metre.
February
- Norway's military wants
to use a large area of Arctic Norway for a bombing test ground for Norwegian
and NATO armed forces. The area covers about 200 square kilometres in Halkvarre,
a traditional Sami reindeer herding ground in the heart of the Sami homeland.
- Sami go to court to
stop the expropriation, saying it violates their rights as an ethnic minority.
- Correspondence between
Jonathan Motzfeldt, premier of Greenland's home rule government, and the newly
elected U.S. president, George W. Bush, spark a diplomatic war of words between
Denmark and Greenland over the Thule military base.
- Another U.N.-commissioned
report comes up with a bad news scenario. It says an increase in natural disasters
due to global warming will cost $300 billion a year in losses by 2050.
- A new $8-million cultural
and conference centre is in the works for Nunavik. If all goes according to
plan, the facility will be ready in time for the Inuit Circumpolar Conference
bash, to be held in Kuujjuaq in summer 2002.
April/May
- Hans Pavia Rosing,
from Greenland's home rule government, and Aqqaluk Lynge, president of the
Inuit Circumpolar Conference, take a journey by dog team from Qaanaaq to Thule,
the site of a huge U.S. military base. It is a symbolic trek to highlight
the continuing distress of Thule's former residents over loss of their traditional
land as well as the home rule government's unhappiness with its lack of power
over foreign affairs and security.
- U.S. president George
W. Bush announces he will sign and ask the Senate to ratify an international
treaty that bans or severely restricts toxic chemicals or "POPs."
Canada has already signaled its intent to sign the treaty which will take
effect when it is ratified by 50 nations.
June/July
- The Arctic Council
meets for two days in Rovaniemi, Finland. The council was set up in 1996 to
use co-operation as a way to better protect the circumpolar environment and
work on sustainable development issues. Its eight member nations include Canada,
the United States, the Russian Federation and the Nordic countries. Indigenous
peoples' organizations also participate in the council's work. But they're
still trying to figure out how to tackle environmental and social issues at
the same time.
- At the University of
Lapland in Rovaniemi, the University of the Arctic holds its official launch,
showing off its plans for the future and introducing a high-powered group
of governors and advisors.
- The Arctic's wildlife
and indigenous peoples are at risk from new infrastructures, warn scientists
from the United Nations Environment Program or UNEP. The UNEP report, which
is released in Rovaniemi, says within 50 years most of the Arctic will be
affected by human activities that rely on transportation.
- The second Congress
of the World Reindeer Herders' Association is held in Inari, Finland, and
attracts herders from across the circumpolar region.
August
- In Anadyr, ICC president
Aqqaluk Lynge signs an agreement with Roman Abramovich, the governor of Chukotka
to pave the way for more co-operation between indigenous peoples in Chukotka
and Inuit from Canada, Greenland and Alaska. It will also strengthen the Chukotka
branch of ICC.
September
- Travellers between
Canada and Greenland see trouble ahead due to the cancellation of scheduled
airline services between Iqaluit and Kangerlussuaq by First Air and Greenlandair.
The last scheduled flight between the two countries is set to take off on
Oct. 30. After that date, anyone travelling between Canada and Greenland will
have to make a big detour through Copenhagen, Denmark or charter an aircraft
to cross the Davis Strait.
- Canadian directors
of the ICC get a preview of next summer's get-together in Kuujjuaq at their
annual general meeting in Nain, Labrador. The ICC Kuujjuaq meeting is scheduled
for August 10 to 17.
October
- The mining giant Inco
Ltd. submits a new work plan to the Government of Newfoundland to develop
the Voisey's Bay nickel and copper deposit in northern Labrador. After a breakdown
in negotiations, the two parties are said to be closer than ever at striking
a deal. A mine at Voisey's Bay would supply hundreds of jobs and open up economic
opportunities for Labrador Inuit. Over its 30-year life span, this mine would
be worth billions of dollars to the economy.
- A 20-year-old link
between Canada and Greenland is broken when a First Air jet flying from Kangerlussuaq
to Iqaluit lands on the runway for the last time at 4:47 p.m. on Oct. 30.
There are no more scheduled flights between the two Arctic communities.
- Progress toward making
a deal intended to help slow down global warming comes in the closing moments
of a two-week conference in Morocco. That's when negotiators from 165 countries
finally agree on rules for implementing the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. This agreement
calls on about 40 industrialized nations to limit carbon emissions - those
so-called greenhouse gases which are responsible for global warming - or cut
them back to 1990 levels. U.S. president Bush wants voluntary measures and
won't support the deal.
- No more mineral exploration
or mining until our land claims are settled, say Sami leaders in Norway. A
British mining company, Tertiary Minerals, has reported "significant
finds" of gold, platinum and palladium in northern Norway's Finnmark
plateau. Sami-owned reindeer traditionally graze on this plateau's highlands.
November
- The Aboriginal Pipeline
Group signs a partnership deal with oil and gas producers that gives native
groups a one-third equity in a pipeline that would run between the Mackenzie
Delta and Alberta. The proposed 1,350 kilometre pipeline would carry one billion
cubic feet of natural gas a day to the South. The Aboriginal Pipeline Group,
headed by former NWT premier, Nellie Cournoyea, wants $1 billion in federal
loan guarantees to pay for its share of the project.
- Greenlanders elect
two people to represent Greenland in the Danish parliament in Copenhagen.
Voters choose Kuupik Kleist, a former vice-president of the Inuit Circumpolar
Conference and minister in the Home Rule government, and Lars Emil Johansen,
a former Greenlandic premier. Kleist, running for the left-wing Inuit Ataqatigiit
Party, receives 6,369 votes, about 31 per cent of the total. This is the first
time that Inuit Ataqatigiit Party has won a seat in the Danish parliament.
Johansen, from the Siumut Party, receives 5,093 votes, or 26.2 per cent of
the vote. Both candidates say they would seek more independence for Greenland
and a review of the U.S.-Denmark defence agreement on the Thule Air Base.
- Meanwhile, voters in
Denmark move very heavily toward the right. The ruling Social Democratic party
suffers a massive decline in support, while right-wing parties do much better
than predicted.
December
- The Winnipeg-based
Great Canadian Travel Company will offer flights this summer to Sisimiut,
Greenland, from Edmonton, Ottawa, Montreal and Iqaluit, in conjunction with
a Sisimiut cruise operator, Arctic Umiaq Line. The flights are scheduled to
run from mid-June and last until the end of August.
- The Greenland government
finds itself in disarray when the coalition that holds its 27-seat local parliament
together crumbles in November. A majority of government members support a
motion that would see their salaries double. The new package would include
retirement benefits, annual free travel for families and access to better
housing in Nuuk, where there is a 13-year waiting list for housing. This move
to boost salaries and benefits causes the left-wing Inuit Ataqatigiit Party
to bolt from the coalition. Young Greenlanders stage a protest and ask for
a new election.
- The "Light of
Peace" arrives in Greenland on Dec. 7 after travelling more than 7,000
kilometres from Bethlehem. The Light of Peace reflects a tradition similar
to the Olympic flame that carries the spirit of the Olympic Games wherever
it goes.
- U.S. President George
W. Bush says the U.S. will pull out of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM)
Treaty. The ABM Treaty sets limits on the testing and use of anti-ballistic
missiles. ICC president Aqqaluk Lynge says the U.S. decision to abandon this
treaty is bad news for Inuit, and for world peace. Bush says the U.S. will
press ahead with its plans to deploy a missile defense shield. The NMD system
would include upgrades to American air force bases around the North, such
as the Thule base, located in northern Greenland, and sites in Alaska. Lynge
has previously called for more Inuit involvement in any discussions leading
to upgrades of military bases in Inuit homelands.
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