Social Impact Assessment along Russia's Northern Sea Route: Petroleum Transport and the Arctic Operational Platform (ARCOP)

THE OIL AND GAS RESOURCES of Russia’s Arctic regions comprise the world’s largest energy reserve outside the OPEC countries. The Arctic Operational Platform (ARCOP, 2003 – 05) is a research and development project supported by the European Union’s “Competitive and Sustainable Growth” programme. The ARCOP project has 21 participating organizations, from five EU member states (Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Italy) and from Norway and Russia. The ARCOP workshops have served as an industrial, scientific, and political forum throughout the project. Participants in the workshops discuss issues such as an integrated marine transport system, the economics of transport, the supporting infrastructure with regard to ice information, the legal status of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) in relation to petroleum transportation and shipping transport services, environmental impacts, and oil spill countermeasures. The social impact assessment (SIA) component of the workshops has focused on issues of environment and technology in relation to human populations along the Northern Sea Route. Its main task, implemented by the Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, has been to carry out overview studies to assess the potential socio-cultural impacts of shipping along the NSR on indigenous peoples and small Arctic communities, with the purpose of highlighting the needs and priorities to be considered from a local perspective.