Towards Sustainability in Arctic Transport
International Law and Arctic Governance and Sustainable Transport Options for the Global North
Introduction
The Arctic is characterized by a harsh climate and a low population density. The level of urbanization is similar to that of nearby regions such as North America and Central Europe, but the distances between population centres are very significant, as are distances between smaller settlements and urban areas. This is of great practical relevance for the people who live in the Arctic because often essential service providers, such as hospitals or educational institutions will be physically located in cities, making it difficult for rural communities to access them. But also connections between relatively nearby cities are often difficult, frequently necessitating longer journeys through major hubs. One example is the connection between Rovaniemi and Tromso. While there is a bus in the summer months, the situation is different in the winter. Travel by rail is not an option as the Norwegian railway system does not extend this far north. This leaves travel by plane, which requires layovers in Oslo and Helsinki, resulting in a much longer trip that is associated with significant environmental and climate impacts and that will be significantly more expensive than travel by bus. The environmental and social impact of these challenges is clearly visible.
The same situation exists between many other mid-level centers and smaller locations across the Arctic. Transport is essential but often not sustainable. The distances between where people live and where services are available is just one aspect. That mobility of people and goods is an important problem for Arctic communities can be felt not only when services such as health care are required but also with regsard to the transport of goods. Many goods that are produced in the Arctic, such as raw materials that are extracted from the Arctic, are transported away in order to be consumed or used elsewhere. On the other hand, many of the products that Arctic residents need, including food, are produced outside of the Arctic and have to be transported to the Arctic, often at high costs. This is reflected in exorbitantly high food prices in places such as Greenland or the Canadian Arctic. Environmental pollution and climate change can have negative effects on food security. This increases the dependency of Arctic communities on imported foods and can lead to situations of scarcity in countries that otherwise are characterized by abundance. Making transport more sustainable and affordable therefore can directly benefit Arctic communities and have a positive impact on the people who live in the Arctic, in particular in remote regions and places with high degrees of dependence on imported foods and other products.
Research that contributes to the enhancement of sustainability of transport in the Arctic therefore provides researchers with an opportunity to leave the confines of the ivory tower of academia and to produce practically relevant research that benefits our community and communities across the Arctic, but also elsewhere, especially in remote regions.
The idea behind this presentation is not to answer a specific question, but rather to give an overview of some of the current and emerging issues on the sustainability of transport in the Arctic. This presentation is not meant to provide a complete picture but rather to highlight some issues on which there is already research happening, as well as issues that will require more research in the future.
For this purpose, allow me to briefly look at four modes of transport and how international law can contribute to enhancing sustainability in transport in the Arctic: transport by air, by sea, by rail, and by road.
Rail and road transport
Transport by rail and road are primarily covered by national law. These transport modes can be made sustainable through electrification and the reliance on renewable sources of electricity.
With regard to transport by train, this is relatively easy and the electrification of railway tracks has made sustainability relatively easy. Of course, there are environmental risks associated with railways. Railroads are infrastructure-intensive and the opposition against the Arctic railway project in Finland is a reminder of the threats posed by railroads, for example for reindeer. While providing relatively clean transport, railways are therefore not entirely unproblematic and they pose a safety hazard, in particular for animals. Their relevance for the extractive industries is not to be underestimated either and they can contribute to land use conflicts. Unlike roads which, in principle, can be used by all members of society, railroads amount to large-scale infrastructure that is used only during short time periods in any given location and that are not accessible to other users, even in countries where the railway system is operated by the state or on behalf of the state. While railroads have the potential to provide climate-friendly transportation solutions, they are not unproblematic.
While there is significant legal relevance to the planning and implementation of railway projects, there is still a research gap in as far as more research is necessary in this context. Among the reasons for this, at least from an international legal researcher’s perspective, is that the legal issues in question are usually of a domestic legal nature. Here, we have a cooperation potential with researchers working on national environmental and planning law in the different Arctic countries.
The same can, in principle be said with regard to roads. Here, too, national solutions remain dominant. Electrification of road transport is still meeting some opposition in the Arctic, especially because of concerns about the functionality of electric vehicles in general and batteries in particular in cold temperatures. Positive experiences from Norway, which has seen a dramatic increase in the number of electric vehicles in recent years, show that electric vehicles can be operated in cold climates, too. While still a major oil exporter, Norway’s domestic mobility situation has evolved significantly in recent years. While results based on the climatic situation in coastal regions of Norway cannot be transferred perfectly to more continental climates elsewhere in the Arctic, including already in Sweden or Finland, the ongoing electrification of road transport in Norway shows that this transition is possible. It does require significant up-front investments, in particular the creation of a dense network of fast charging stations. This will be especially relevant in the Arctic in order to address drivers’ concerns regarding the functioning of vehicles in extreme conditions.
Another aspect that needs to be taken into account is the law of the European Union (EU). EU law is a driving force for change towards sustainability and from 2035 on the sale of new fossil fuel-powered cars will be outlawed in the European Union. The electrification of individual road transport is happening - but what needs to happen in order for this effort to become truly sustainable is the transition to clean, renewable, sources of energy.
Maritime and air transport
That regulation can make a difference has been clearly visible in the maritime sector for which the Internaitonal Maritime Organization (IMO) has taken significant steps in recent years to reduce air pollution from ships and to reduce the risk of maritime disasters in polar waters. But these steps are still falling far short of what is needed in order to make maritime transport in the Arctic truly sustainable.
It is often argued that air transport and maritime transport are not included in existing international climate law, but there are arguments to be made in favor of excluding both in the international legal efforts to combat climate change. Shipping and air transport emissions are currently reported separately from nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement, but this does not mean that transport by air or by sea would not be included in climate efforts. What has happened is that the role of the International Maritime Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has been weakened during the negotiation of the Paris Agreement. These organizations, however, have significant capacities to improve the sustainability of transport.
The IMO has imposed limitations on sulphur emissions from ships and in 2021 agreed on limits on the use of heavy fuel oils in the Arctic, years after similar restrictions had been established with regard to the Southern Ocean that surrounds Antarctica. The IMO’s heavy fuel oil ban for the Arctic, however, will only take effect on 1 July 2024, which has rightly been considered as a disappointment. Due to the slow pace of progress at the IMO, already in 2019 the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO) adopted a voluntary ban on heavy fuel oils for cruise ship operations in the Arctic.
This is not the only example for industry actually acting faster than international regulators. We can see the same happening in the aviation sector in Canada and Northern Europe. Small electric aircraft, not jets but electric prop planes, are already in use in Canada and they use is planned also for Northern Europe. Local airports such as Enontekiö could become hubs, enabling fast and climate-friendly travel between locations such as Rovaniemi and Tromso, addressing the problem outlined earlier.
Outlook
Eventually, these efforts have to go hand in hand: regulation on the national and international levels, and industry decisions. All of these approaches are accelerated because customers and citizens demand change and a more sustainable future. Industry actors have recognized this demand, and have reacted accordingly. International regulators, such as IMO and ICAO, will only be as fast as member states allow them to be, although there is no consensus requirement and the slowest state actors will be unable to slow down the entire process. The demand for change is there and the trend towards more sustainability in transportation is clearly visible - progress might be slow, but it exists. Legal and governance research can create knowledge that may facilitate these processes.