Froukje Zuidema Wageningen University

Transcription

1 WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY SOCIAL SCIENCES Froukje Zuidema Wageningen University Image 1: Arti Ramachandran (CAFF Competition) Image 2: Arctic Council Logo Image 2: David Broome (CAFF competition)

2 WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY SOCIAL SCIENCES Balancing Interest between Economy and Environment in the Arctic Liberal environmentalism as an explanatory device MSc Thesis Public Administration and Policy (PAP-80336) Wageningen University and Research By Froukje Zuidema 11 December 2018 Study: MSc International Development Studies Specialisation: Politics and Governance of Development StudentID: Supervisor: Dr Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen Second Examiner: Prof Katrien Termeer

3 Acknowledgements For me, this is the last part I will write for this master thesis. For you, this is the first part you will read. The next 77 pages would not have been made possible without some help. Therefore, I like to put some of them in the spotlight here and now. First of all, I want to thank my supervisor, Dr Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen, who supported me on this uncommon topic in the field of International Development Studies. Secondly, my gratitude goes to my interviewees, who were so willing to speak to me and provide me with insights, explanations and new ideas. A special thanks to Lassi Heininen and Malgorzata Smieszek, two scholars from the University of Lapland, who gave me academic advice and insight on this topic. Last but definitely not least; I would not have been able to do this thesis without the support of my friends and family. Therefore, I like to thank Jinke and Marlous for the lovely dinners, and borrels you have made my student time a blast. Also, I would not be here without the support of Heit and Mama, and, Marit and Jorrit who always believed in me every step of the way. Finally, I need to thank one person, who have supported me by bringing me cups of tea and helped me throughout the thesis to clear and organise my mind. So, thank you, Joost. I

4 Abstract Climate change creates challenges and opportunities for the Arctic region. There are, on the one hand, significant negative impacts on the environment from climate change requiring environmental management and, on the other hand, there is the chance of new economic activities and development such as shipping, mining and oil and gas exploitation. The Arctic Council, established in 1996, is the political arena where the eight Arctic States, six Indigenous Peoples Organizations and 39 Arctic and Non-Arctic observers discuss issues regarding the topics of climate change, environmental protection and economic development in the Arctic Region. There is a challenge for the actors active in the Arctic, to balance the trade-off between environmental protection and economic development. This thesis looks through the lens of liberal environmentalism at the interest-based positions of the three types of actors, namely the Member States, the Permanent Participants and the Observers, in the Arctic Council. With the theory of liberal environmentalism it seeks to explain how these actors balance between economic interest and the environmental agenda. The aim is to contribute to the debate around how norms and social structure influences actors interest-based positions. The significant finding is that the norm-complex, which is the core characteristic of the theory of liberal environmentalism as defined by Bernstein - seems to play a role for the interest-based positions of the actors in the AC regarding the trade-off between economy and environment. Keywords: Arctic Council, Liberal Environmentalism, Norm-complex, and Social Structure II

5 List of Abbreviations 2030 Agenda Transforming our World: the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development AC ACIA AEC AMAP AEPS AIV CAD DAC DKK EU GDP GRP ICC MPS MS NGO NOW PP PPP PSSA SAO SC SDG TNC UN UNCED UNCLOS UNFCCC WWF Arctic Council Arctic Climate Impact Assessment Arctic Economic Council Arctic Monitoring Assessment Programme Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy Advisory Council on International Affairs Canadian Dollar Dutch Arctic Circle Danish Kroner European Union Gross Domestic Product Gross Regional Product Inuit Circumpolar Council Marine Protected Areas Member States Non-governmental Organisation Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research Permanent Participants Polluter Pays Principle Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas Senior Arctic Officials Saami Council Sustainable Development Goals Transnational corporations United Nations United Nations Conference on Environment and Development United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change World Wide Fund for Nature III

6 Table of Contents Acknowledgements... I Abstract... II List of Abbreviations... III List of Figures... VI List of Tables... VI 1. Introduction Governance Arrangements in the Arctic Arctic Council Other governance arrangements in the Arctic The Puzzle: The trade-off between economy and environment Research Aim Research Objective The Research Questions Theoretical Framework Realism Combining Liberalist and Constructivist perspectives The Two Grand Compromises The toolbox of Liberal Environmentalism Social Structures in Global Governance Norm-complexes Methodology Selection criteria Data Collection - Methods Data Analysis Dependences on the Arctic Member States Sweden Kingdom of Denmark Permanent Participants Inuit Sámi Observers The Netherlands WWF Summary The Social Structure and the Liberal Environmentalism Norm complex The Social Structure of the Arctic Council Liberal Environmentalism Norm-complex State Sovereignty and Liability Political Economy of Environment and Development Environmental Management Summary Interests and Agenda Member States Sweden The Kingdom of Denmark Permanent Participants Inuit Circumpolar Council IV

7 8.2.2 Saami Council Observers The Netherlands WWF Discussion Conclusion References Appendix I Appendix II V

8 List of Figures Figure 1: Map of boundaries of the Arctic Region 6 Figure 2: The current and new shipping routes 7 Figure 3: The Institutional structure of the Arctic Council 9 Figure 4: An overview of governance arrangements with the connection of membership of the Arctic States 12 Figure 5: The life cycle of Norms. 22 Figure 6: the Relation between Social structure, Norms and Norm Complex. 22 Figure 7: The total Catch of fish in tonnes per year in the Faroese Territories 31 Figure 8: Dutch Crude Oil import per Arctic State in Euro. Numbers collected from CBS 37 Figure 9: Social Structure of the AC, consisting of four main elements 42 Figure 10: Shares per actor on the element of Sovereignty and Liability 44 Figure 11: The Share per Actor on the Element of Political Economy of Environment and Development 45 Figure 12: Share Per Actor on the Element of Environmental Management 46 Figure 13: The share per element of each actor 47 List of Tables Table 1: The Liberal Environmentalism norms compared to the original Principles of the Rio Declaration, and the new Agenda 2030 and Paris Agreement 19 Table 2: Selection of Actors 23 Table 3: Analysed Policy Document 25 Table 4: List of interviewees 26 Table 5: List of Codes 28 Table 6: Value added by Industry in 2008 and 2012 in Sweden 31 Table 7: Value added by Industry in 2008 and 2012 at the Faroe Islands 33 Table 8: Value added by industry in 2008 and 2012 in Greenland 34 Table 9: Overview of the contribution per financier for period (in Meuro) 40 Table 10: The elements, the connecting codes and the explanation 46 Table 11: The semi-structured interview guide employed 86 Table 12: The data of Sweden representing the share per element of the norm-complex 87 Table 13: The data of The Kingdom of Denmark representing the share per element of the norm-complex 87 Table 14: The data of ICC representing the share per element of the norm-complex 88 Table 15: The data of Saami Council representing the share per element of the normcomplex 88 Table 16: The data of The Netherlands representing the share per element of the normcomplex 89 Table 17: The data of WWF representing the share per element of the norm-complex 89 VI

9 1. Introduction The summer of 2018 was extraordinary, with heat waves occurring in the Northern part of Europe and average temperatures in Sweden rose higher than that in Spain in May (Engels, 2018). Climate change has significant impacts on the world ecosystems creating new challenges and opportunities. The Arctic is one of the regions where the impacts of climate change are most severe. Due to rising temperatures in the Arctic region the ice, snow, and permafrost are melting, this is causing that the albedo effect 1 gets lower and temperature rise will become even more severe (Norwegian Polar Institute, n.d.). IPCC mentions that with a temperature rise of 2 degree Celsius the Arctic has every ten years a sea-ice free summer, with 1.5 Celsius this will become one out of hundred years (IPCC, 2018). The impacts on the region can also be found in changing biodiversity and landscape, bringing an imbalance in the ecosystem of the Arctic Region (ACIA, 2005). Therefore, in the recent decades, the developments in the Arctic has highly been discussed and debated within in the region itself, which consists of eight Arctic States, namely: America via Alaska, Canada, Russia, Finland, Sweden Norway, Iceland, and Denmark via Greenland. The Arctic States fall within one or multiple definitions of the Arctic. The most well know definitions are the Arctic Circle (66 30 ) and the July Isotherm (below 10 C), and together cover parts of all Arctic States (AMAP, 1998). Figure 1 shows these boundaries of the Arctic Region as officially recognised by the Arctic Council. The AC is the main international organisation in the Arctic Region where Arctic States, Indigenous Peoples organisations, nongovernmental Organisations, and non-arctic States cooperate and discuss the challenges and opportunities of the Arctic. The Arctic may not be the most populated area of the world, still four million Figure 1: Boundaries of the Arctic Region (Source: Arctic Centre, n.d.) people are living in the Arctic today, and around 10% of this population is part of one of the 40 groups of Indigenous Peoples (Arctic Council, 2016; Arctic Centre, n.d. a.). The Indigenous Peoples also have strong interests in the Arctic, since great parts in the Arctic region are Indigenous homelands to various Indigenous groups. Also, the Arctic development does not stay unrecognised by non-arctic States, businesses and Ngo s. The scope of the research Although the impacts on the environment are severe and real, climate change does not solely create problems and challenges for the Arctic Region, but creates also economic 1 The Albedo effect is the fact that a light surface caused by for example to ice and snow will reflect more sunlight reducing the heat this is called a high albedo effect. When ice or snow disappears the sunlight is absorbed by the surface such as land and water, which is called the low albedo effect. These surfaces will hold more heat, creating a rise in temperature, leading to more melting of ice and snow. It is thus a self-reinforcement mechanism (Norwegian Polar Institute, n.d.). 1

10 opportunities. These economic opportunities consist of various activities like fishing and mining, but also new shipping routes lowering the fuel costs of transportation with 40%( The Kingdom of Denmark, 2011; Young, 2010) (Figure 2). Another major opportunity is the estimation of around 13% undiscovered oil resource and 30% undiscovered gas fields in the Arctic Ocean for the gas and oil industry. (King, n.d.; USGS, 2008). Although, both the shipping and oil and gas exploitation has still uncertainties and seem for the near future not profitable enough for companies like Shell, who quite direct activities in 2015 (Guardian, 2015). The Arctic becomes more attractive for regional and foreign actors, such as multiple non-arctic actors, both states, business and social and environmental NGOs. The Arctic has become an area where there is a clear trade-off between the economy and the environment. On the one hand, there are environmental challenges that have severe impacts on the region itself and beyond. On the other hand, climate change creates economic opportunities for the Arctic inhabitants, and as stated by the both the representative of Greenland and the representative of ICC-Canada (2018) economic prosperity is a welcoming development, because there is there is poverty in the North, especially among Indigenous Peoples (Kendall, 2011). This thesis wants to explain this trade-off between economic welfare and environmental protection through the lens of liberal environmentalism. It is doing so by looking at the three types of the main participating actors in the Arctic Council; the Member States, the Permanent Participants and the Observers, to explain and show the different positions in the balance between economic interest and environmental agenda. The reader must notice that within each type the actors are far from unified. Still, each type have a certain position and role, and therefore this distinction between types of actors can be made. This thesis is not making a comparison between three different types of actors, yet it is trying to understand how the actors address the balance between environment and economy in a region where the trade-off seems to be of vital importance for the future of the region as well as the future of the globe. Figure 2: The current and new shipping routes (Source: Grada Arendal, 2007) Outline of the Thesis In order to reach the aim, this thesis will firstly focus in chapter two on the political arena in the Arctic, explaining the functioning of the AC and other governance arrangements, which discusses Arctic issues. Secondly, the third chapter explains the puzzle of the thesis and sets the research aim, objectives and questions. Thirdly, chapter four will discuss and elaborates the theoretical framework of liberal environmentalism, followed by the methodology of in this thesis. Chapters six to eight are the empirical chapters of this thesis, discussing the outcomes of the sub-questions along the lines of the dependences of the actors on the Arctic, the social structure and liberal environmentalism norm-complex, and lastly the balance between the environmental agenda and economic interests. Chapter nine discusses the results, the suitability of the theoretical framework, and limitations of the research. The last chapter will conclude and summarise the main findings and makes suggestions for future research projects. 2

11 2. Governance Arrangements in the Arctic As mentioned in the introduction the Arctic is a diversified region with many actors and developments in the field of economic opportunities and environment. To understand how these economic and environmental opportunities and challenges are balanced, the first step is to understand the governance arrangements that have emerged in the Arctic Region. A governance arrangement is a set of rules, processes and instruments that guide actors from both private and public entities to realise collective goals in a specific issue area (Termeer et al., 2011). Therefore, this chapter will introduce the AC, as one of the central governance arrangements in the Arctic region and then I will shortly discuss other governance arrangements in the Arctic region. The AC is the main focus since this governance arrangement connects the most significant number of actors and is the topic of the thesis. Although explaining and describing the other governance arrangements will help to understand that there are other cooperation and discussion between different actors, on different levels with different inputs for discussion. 2.1 Arctic Council During the Cold War, the tensions between Arctic States was on its highest point, mainly because the distance between the mainland of the Soviet Union and the mainland of United States of America on the narrowest point in the Bering Strait is only 85 kilometre (Alaska Centres, n.d.). The impact of pollution and environmental degradation, due to the use of chemical weapons, became already evident in the Arctic during this time, which concerned many non-state actors (Heininen, September 2018). Gorbachev reached out his hand to the Arctic in October 1987 through a speech calling for the Arctic as a zone of peace, rather than conflict (Gorbachev, 1987). This famous speech that marked the end of the Cold War also marked the beginning of Arctic cooperation. Finland took the opportunity to make the promise of Gorbachev into a reality by arranging a meeting between the Arctic States in Rovaniemi, Finland in This meeting led to a multilateral decision to create an Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS). In 1996 the AEPS developed, with the declaration of Ottawa, into the Arctic Council (Arctic Council, 1996). The primary mandate of the AC is sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic region (Arctic Council, 1996). The AC consists of eight Member States, six Indigenous Permanent Participant organisations and 39 observers. In the AC these actors negotiate their different interest and try to realise shared goals and outcomes. The eight Member States have the most powerful position in the Arctic Council. The Member States have both voting and speaking right in the AC. The PARTICIPANT ORGANIZATIONS 6 INDIGENOUS PERMANENT 8 MEMBER STATES OBSERVER STATES AND ORGANIZATIONS 6 WORKING GROUPS Indigenous Peoples groups have permanent status, yet they only have speaking right and no voting Figure 3: The Institutional structure of the Arctic Council (Source: Arctic Council, 2018) 3

12 right in the AC. However, the general rule is that before decisions are made the eight Member States must first consult the Permanent Participants. The observers are found in the outer ring of the AC and have no formal influence on the decision-making process (Arctic Council, 2018)(Figure 3). The engines of the AC are not the eight member-states even though they have a dominant position. However, the six working groups that consist of mostly scientist are the engines of the AC. The research data of the six working groups is the input for the debate, awareness raising and decision-making in the AC (Smieszek, July 2018). The Arctic Council as a whole gathers two times a year during the Senior Arctic Official (SAO) meetings, to discuss the progress. The ministerial meeting at the end of every two-year chairmanship, which rotates between the member states, make the agreements. In this meeting not only the senior Arctic officials are present, but also the ministers of foreign affairs or Arctic affairs of the Arctic States (Arctic Council, 1996). The six working groups that are dealing with different subjects from contamination, protection and sustainability in the Arctic are the input for the SAO and ministerial meetings. All the groups have their own research strategy and mandate, yet they all contribute to the database for the Arctic Council (Arctic Council, 2015). Beside the working groups, each chairmanship can decide on task groups and expert groups, that will investigate specific topics proposed by the current chairmanship. The structure of the Arctic Council builds around knowledge generation and sharing, and I therefore argue that it is based on science diplomacy. Science diplomacy means that science is used to structure and steer policies and politics in order to get all actors on a similar page (Galluccio and Vivani, 2015). The actors in the AC use this mechanism to get a common understanding of the issues. Due to the structure and rules of the AC, it produces mostly soft law 2 outputs, yet there are three exceptions. These three binding agreements concern: search and rescue, preparedness and response, and scientific cooperation. Binding agreements are not the priority of the Arctic Council, the priority is sustainable and long during cooperation between all actors involved in the Arctic Region, and overcome conflict in a fragile area (Brosnan et al., 2011; Matz-Lück, 2009). Usually, soft law is used as a complementing element of the hard law instrument, yet in the AC soft law is the primary driver to establish outcomes, and this is somewhat unique (Shelton, 2000). Although the cooperation seems stable and durable, there has recently been a debate around the limitations and possibilities of the AC. The AC has to deal with more pressure due to many various interests and actors and especially the introduction of more observers in the AC (Koivurova, 2010). Due to this many are opting to change the AC especially those who are not involved in the AC argue that the AC should turn more to a hard law body, rather than a soft law body as it is now. According to this camp, the Arctic Council will otherwise lose its function and power to make a change in the Arctic (Pedersen, 2012). Although, those within the AC are opting that the AC should not move away from developing primarily soft laws. The fact that the working groups 2 Soft law in contradiction to hard law is not binding and remains therefore rather flexible. The unique feature of soft law is that it generates a particular view on the idea how actors should behave in a certain context (Shelton, 2000). 4

13 generate knowledge that provide the input for the guidelines and visions gives all the actors a valid reason to cooperate and main this cooperation (Pedersen, 2012) 2.2 Other governance arrangements in the Arctic Although the Arctic Council is seen as the main governance arrangement of the region, where most differentiated actors come together, there are still some other governance arrangements that also play a role in the Arctic. This thesis will focus mostly on the Arctic Council, however, it is good to know which other arrangement are into play, since there are sometimes conflicts of overlapping issues between these arrangements. Therefore, this part wills shortly sum-up four governance arrangements in the Arctic. First of all the Arctic Five, this arrangement is between the five littoral Arctic states, thus America, Canada, Russia, Norway and Denmark. Due to the pressure from outside actors on the Arctic Ocean the Arctic five made this arrangement. The five littoral states wanted to step up their sovereignty, and due to the invitation by the Danish Realm; they created the Ilulissat Declaration in May 2008 (Ilulissat Declaration, 2008; Kingdom of Denmark, 2011). This declaration discussed topics about who owned the Arctic Ocean and who should be the guardians of this unique ecosystem; the declaration states that the five littoral states are the legal owners and guardians of the Arctic Ocean (Ilulissat Declaration, 2008). Secondly, the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers, which was formed in 1952 by Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Faroe Island, Greenland, and Åland. The Nordic Council of Ministers is an inter-governmental forum, and the Nordic Council is inter-parliamentary cooperation. The cooperation s main mandate is to create a positive impact for all who live in the Nordic countries, and with this promoting the shared values of the Nordic countries to become more innovative and competitive in today s globalised world (Norden, n.d.) Thirdly, Barents Euro-Arctic cooperation also consists of two parts, namely the intergovernmental Barents Euro-Arctic Council and the interregional Barents regional council. To lower Post-Cold war tensions, Finland, Sweden Norway, Iceland, Russia and the European Commission launched this cooperation in The Barents Euro-Arctic cooperation focuses mainly on the sustainable development of the region (Barentscooperation, 2018). Fourthly, the AC, under Canadian Chairmanship, has brought the Arctic Economic Council into life in The purpose of the AEC is to make the Arctic Region fitted and attractive for economic activities. The focus lies on responsible entrepreneurship and sustainable economic growth. The AEC is trying to bring the connection between all actors interested in economic activity (AEC, n.d.). The AEC connects three business representatives from each Arctic State and three representatives from each Permanent Participant organisation. Other business can only participate as non-voting members in the AEC (AEC, n.d.). The Member States are thus not directly involved in the AEC, but the Representatives of Denmark, Greenland and Sweden acknowledged that they cooperate closely with the business involved in the AEC (2018). The indigenous people organisations are thus involved in the AEC and have voting rights in the AEC (AEC, n.d.). 5

14 Lastly, Arctic governance is not only based on governance arrangements but also on the bilateral agreements and cooperation between different Arctic States and non-arctic States that will influence the behaviour and actions in the Arctic Region. 2.3 Summary In short, the Arctic Region has a significant number of different actors involved in the challenges and opportunities that the region is facing. Figure 4 shows the linkages and overlap between the political arena and different governance arrangements in the Arctic Region. This map shows only the multilateral relations of the Arctic States with the governance arrangements and does not show the bilateral relations. It gives an overview of how the Arctic States are involved in different governance arrangements. The Arctic Council is the political arena where all Arctic States and the highest number of nongovernmental, non-arctic actors are involved. Figure 4: An overview of governance arrangements with the connection of membership of the Arctic States (Authors own Visualisation, 2018). 6

15 3. The Puzzle: The trade-off between economy and environment Throughout the introduction, I have tried to show that the changing Arctic, due to climate change, means a changing world. This creates a diversity of consequences that are considered both negative and positive by multiple actors in the Arctic Region. These economic opportunities and environmental challenges are creating conflicting interests in the Arctic. For the last two decades, the AC has tried to govern and seek common ground among these multiple interests. Although it is a regional platform discussing regional issues, it reaches beyond its region. In recent years, non-arctic actors show enormous interest in engaging within the AC. The AC as an institution is complicated, but has an innovative governance strategy, trying to include all actors involved, and gives a permanent seat to the Indigenous people of the Arctic. Cooperation is vital in the AC in order to maintain stability and reach common goals (Heininen, September 2018). The hypothesis is that there is an underlying trade-off between the economic wellbeing and the environmental protection in the Arctic region. This trade-off concerns the fact that due to these environmental changes, economic opportunities become more available for specific actors in a Far-away region. These economic chances create new environmental challenges. However, there is little known about this unique trade-off that climate change creates for the Arctic Region. This includes how this trade-off influences the interests of different actors in the Arctic Council. Likewise, there is a discussion about the trade-off between economic growth and environmental protection in global governance. Many scholars focus on this topic, and different theories have been developed from the 1990s forward. One of them is liberal environmentalism, which combines economic growth with environmental protection (Bernstein, 2000; 2002). Bernstein (2000) argues that combining environmental protection with liberal economics will secure negative trade-off from happening and this is crucial for sustainable development. Norms and social structures are the central explanatory elements of Liberal environmentalism in order to explain the interest-based positions of the actors (Bernstein, 2002). Bernstein (2000) argues that the liberal environmentalism norm-complex is an international set of norms that influence the interest of actors in global environmental governance. This theoretical notion of combining the environment with economic welfare and growth is, I argue, interesting to apply to the Arctic Region. The actors in the AC negotiate these interests of environmental protection and economic development. The Arctic region also challenges this theory, since there is a unique trade-off between environmental protection and economic opportunities. In order to understand the unique trade-off that climate change creates for the actors involved in the AC and throughout the Arctic. This thesis tries to explain how liberal environmentalism as a theory could help to make sense of and explain the interest-based positions of the actors in the AC regarding this trade-off. Therefore, the following research aim, objectives and research question have been formulated. 7

16 3.1 Research Aim The overall purpose of this research is to understand how norms and social structure influence the interest-based positions of State actors and non-state actors in the AC. This will further on help researchers and politicians get insight into how actors steer to a particular interest that might not be an obvious choice for them. More specific how actor balances their interests between economic opportunities and environmental protection. 3.2 Research Objective To reach the research aim, this thesis will, firstly, focus on the interest-based positions regarding economic opportunities and environmental challenges of the main three different types of actors in the Arctic Council, namely, the Member States, the Permanent Participants, and the Observers. It uses the theory of liberal environmentalism as a tool for explaining these interest-based positions. Secondly, this thesis contributes to the existing body of literature about liberal environmentalism. Also, this thesis aims more explicitly to develop a toolbox for the theory of liberal environmentalism, in order to become more explanatory. 3.3 The Research Questions How can liberal environmentalism contribute to explaining the interest-based positions of the actors in the three categories; Member States, Permanent Participants and Observers in the Arctic Council in the on-going trade-off between the economy and the environment in the Arctic region? Sub-Research questions: The following sub-questions will guide this research towards concluding and answering the main research question: 1. What are the historical, environmental and socio-economic dependences of the main participating actors in the Arctic Council on the Arctic? 2. What are the main elements of the social structure of the Arctic Council regarding favouring the environment, economy, or both? 3. To what extent do the main actors refer to the three elements of the Liberal Environmentalism norm-complex in their Arctic policy document(s)? 4. What are the environmental agenda and economic interest of the main participating actors and how are these two balanced? 8

17 4. Theoretical Framework Within the field of international relations, there are different views on global politics and how to understand and explain the interplay between states. In current political arenas, the cooperation is not solely between states anymore, non-governmental organisations have emerged as actors as well (Kuyper et al., 2018). This is also the case in the Arctic region where not only states are engaging in the AC, but also Indigenous Peoples organisations, other non-governmental organisations, like WWF, the scientific community and non-arctic states are present. The main focus of this theoretical framework will be on realism and liberalism, as two major theories that are both applicable to the Arctic Region. Although both theories are state-centred, both do have aspects that can help to understand the processes in the Arctic Region. In short, realism focuses mostly on the conflicting and unsustainable relations between states. Liberalism instead focuses on the fact that despite the conflicting interest between actors, cooperation will still mitigate potential conflict, because of the economic dependency relations between states (Walt, 1998). This interdependency between states can, in my opinion, be broadened from only the economy to also the environment as a key development for more interdependence between actors, not only States but also TNCs, NGOs, and local (Indigenous) peoples. Liberal environmentalism advocates this view. This theory stresses that environmental governance has become embedded in the economy to reduce chances of a negative trade-off between economy and the environment (Bernstein, 2000), and will be the leading theory for this thesis in order to explain the interest-based positions of the actors in the AC. This theoretical framework will first focus on realism and liberalism to show the debate between the two main theories in international relations. It will give some understanding about both the convincing arguments and critiques of the paradigms in the context of the Arctic region and the AC. Firstly the realism theory will be reviewed, followed by the theory of liberalism. Secondly, the theory of constructivism will extend the theory of liberalism in order to make it more comprehensive. Then, embedded liberalism and liberal environmentalism theories are introduced, which are the two grand compromises. The historical path of the two grand compromises will be explained, from embedded liberalism followed by liberal environmentalism. Through reviewing these grand compromises, this theoretical framework develops a toolbox of theoretical notions and concepts that this thesis will use for analysing the AC and its three main participating actors, The Member State, the Permanent Participant and the Observer. This theoretical framework will be used as an explanatory device in order to answer the main research question: How can liberal environmentalism contribute to explaining the interest-based positions of the actors in the three categories; Member States, Permanent Participants and Observers in the Arctic Council in the on-going trade-off between the economy and the environment in the region?. 9

18 4.1 Realism Realism is one of the oldest theories concerning international relations, and still plays an essential role in understanding the world around us (Dobson, 2002; Legro and Moravcsik, 1999; Walt, 1998). The main actors in the realism paradigm are individual States, and therefore no other higher authority will influence the behaviour and policy of individual States, only external threats can have influence beside the state itself. Therefore, security and sovereignty are of high importance to the individual States, to secure their position and to survive as a State (Barkin, 2003). Power relations define these positions between individual States (Legro and Moravcsik, 1999; Walt, 1998). Morgenthau introduced the oldest stream in realism, namely classical realism. Morgenthau argues in classical realism that states rule through laws rooted in human nature and power (Morgenthau, 1973). This human nature consists of the need to dominate over others, creating thus wars between states. (Walt, 1998). Also, Morgenthau saw danger in the bipolar power dominance of the USA and the Soviet Union and rather would see a multipolar dominance in global governance (Walt, 1998). The other prominent stream is neorealism mainly based on the writings of Waltz, which focuses on the international structure to explain international relations in world politics (Dobson, 2002). Waltz would also argue in favour of bipolarity because it would be more stable than a multipolar world order (Walt, 1998). Around 1980s realists started to focus on the economic idea of utility maximisation of the material interest of States to expand the power and to survive (Finnemore and Sikkink, 1998). Therefore, realists will always consider the possibility of major conflicts between individual States, since cooperation between States is only to secure their interest and position. The Arctic region consists of eight States all having their jurisdiction, own interest, and sovereignty. The realism theory can explain the behaviour in the past, especially during the cold war, and in the present. Although the Arctic States managed to establish cooperation between each other after the Cold War, some scholars still look with a realist perspective at the processes in the Arctic. Even liberalist scholars are afraid that the Arctic states go back to the realist perspective, Heininen (September 2018) said: I am very concerned that we are going back to that traditional discourse in the Arctic. Then we totally miss the point. We need cooperation to solve the climate challenges. I hope it is not too late. Due to climate change, there have been changes in the perspective on the Arctic. In the beginning, the Arctic was a distant frozen dessert, but that has changed rapidly when the temperature rises. The rising temperature has led to more pressure from outside actors. This process has been called the rush to the Arctic. This pressure has led to the fact that climate change and its consequences have been framed as a security issue for the Arctic States (Dittmer et al., 2011). The Arctic States reacted to this emerging security issues by stepping up their game with sovereignty claims, especially the littoral states about the Arctic Ocean. This creates disputes between Arctic States over the struggle of which part of the Arctic Ocean belongs to whom? Borgerson (2008) sees this process as a high-security risk of the Arctic States that will eventually lead to conflict within the region. Different Arctic States are in the process of claiming parts of the Arctic Ocean seabed, beyond their 200NM through United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). 10

19 Moreover, there have been overlapping claims, by Denmark via Greenland, Russia, Norway and Canada. In 2006 Russia planted their national flag on the geographical North Pole, showing their interest in claiming the North Pole. This manifestation by Russia was the peak of the dispute between the littoral Arctic States (Matz-Lück, 2009). The littoral states have found a way to mitigate this possible conflict. The littoral states have come together as the Arctic Five to make a statement towards the rest of the world that the Arctic, and especially the Arctic Ocean, is mostly sovereign ruled by those five Arctic states (Ilulissat Declaration, 2008). The realism view can explain specific phenomena that are occurring in the Arctic Region. Although I am arguing that the realist view cannot sufficiently explain the interest-based positions of the main actors in the Arctic Council in the on-going trade-off between the environment and the economy, for two reasons. First, the realist paradigm has a focus on the potential conflict between States, but until today most potential conflicts have been solved or silenced by cooperation between Arctic States and other actors involved. For example, all eight Arctic States have resigned the Ilulissat Declaration of 2008 in May The declaration was resigned to show their willingness and support to keep the norms of this declaration in place (Representative of Sweden, September 2018; Representative of Denmark, September 2018). Of course, there will always be a solid option of conflict in the Arctic Region because tensions are rising in the Arctic. The second argument is that the actors involved in the Arctic Council focus not solely on their self-interest, but also on 'the common future'. This argument connects to critique on the realist paradigm that it mainly excludes emotional features of politics that can define the ground of political goal (Finnemore and Sikking, 1998). The common future has this emotional appeal that connects actors and legitimise the cooperation. These two arguments and examples indicate that realism cannot fully explain the interest-based positions of the actors involved in the AC regarding the trade-off between economy and environment in the Arctic. Therefore the theory of realism is too narrow for this thesis. 4.2 Combining Liberalist and Constructivist perspectives Liberalism focuses on that States will cooperate because there is an economic dependence between them, discouraging States to start wars (Walt, 1998). This economic dependence also leads to more cooperation, because liberalism argues that collective action can lead to welfare improvement and progress, rather than backwardness and conflict (Finnemore and Sikkink, 1998; Walt, 1998). These are the key elements that make the liberalist theory substantially different from the realist theory. The main critique on the liberalist paradigm is that it neglects the influences of social and political community in the political life (Buchanan, 1989; Walzer, 1990). As a response to critiques on liberalism and in order to understand and explain the formation and transformation of international regimes, Ruggie introduced embedded liberalism in 1982 (Ruggie, 1982). Ruggie s (1982) primary aim was to explain how money and trade regimes have reflected and affected the international economic order from World War II onwards. Ruggie (1982) does this through three theoretical arguments. Firstly, the political authority does not solely exist based on power but is combined with a social purpose to become legitimate. Secondly, there is a relationship 11

20 between the international economy in general and a specific regime, like the trade and transactions regime. Ruggie (1982) argues with this that international economic regimes influence international transaction flows and that actors interests complement to the fusion of power and purpose in regimes there are active in. Thirdly, there are within regimes rules and procedures (instruments) that can change over time, but Ruggie argues that the principles and norms (normative framework) would not change, making regimes norm-governed (Ruggie, 1982). This means that the norms and principles regulate and guide actors interests in regimes, rather then the rules and procedures. These three theoretical arguments are the essence of embedded liberalism compromise. In other words, in order for an international order to function and to be legitimate, it connects with social values and norms. Although this definition of embedded liberalism is developed to explain the international economic order in the 1980s, embedded liberalism is a new contribution to the understanding of liberalism. The essence is that international regimes connect with norms and social structure, and this is of particular interests for this thesis. The element of social purpose contributes significantly in understanding how the interests of political actors are established, not solely by material content, but also by norms and values. Ruggie, therefore, focuses also on the ideas, discourses and collective norms that shape State interests; this is part of the constructivism paradigm (Walt, 1998). Constructivism argues that social reality is a better explanatory mechanism of international relations than material reality (Barkin, 2003). In other words, constructivists focus on international norms that shape international relations and stabilise the world order. The definition of international norms in this thesis is: International norms are ideas normally based on fundamental values, but also the organising principles of procedures of the institutions that are guiding actors in their behaviour (Krook and True, 2010). The ideas, discourses and collective norms can also be carried by non-state actors, which give NGOs a more prominent role to play in the theory of constructivism. A group of scholars including Bernstein developed this idea further (Barkin, 2003; Bernstein, 2000). Bernstein (2000) focuses on international norms in the international order, which gives a consistent way to understand and explain state interests. Constructivism can be both seen as a paradigm and as a methodology for other international relation paradigms (Barkin, 2003). In this thesis, constructivism will strengthen liberalism, mainly because both Ruggie and Bernstein s view on international relations connects both with the liberalist and constructivist perspective. However, I want to stress that both perspectives have unique features that strengthen them and therefore can be used separately in explaining specific structures in international relations. For this thesis the constructivist and liberalist view are complementing each other, giving a better understanding on and explain the interestbased positions of each actor regarding balancing the interest in the on-going trade-off between the economy and the environment. The theoretical framework builds upon the two authors, Ruggie and Bernstein, and their ideas about what they call the two Grand Compromises in global governance. Later on, I will discuss why the grand compromise of liberal environmentalism fits better in this thesis in order to explain the interest-based positions of the actors involved in the AC 12

21 regarding the trade-off question between economic welfare and environmental protection. 4.3 The Two Grand Compromises In political science, scholars are trying to describe the complex processes of politics on all levels possible. One of these levels is the world order, where international actors come together and negotiate with one another. Different interests, agenda s and motivations are in play, yet scholars have discovered patterns in how to understand the world order. One way to explain or understand to world order is to look at a set of principles and norms that guide the world order. The two grand compromises explain the normative foundation of the world order that influences actors behaviour in different settings (Bernstein, 2012). Embedded Liberalism is the first Grand Compromise and as already explained above focuses on the economic world order. Ruggie (1982) explained that to create a stable field in world economics there is the need for a compromise between the laissez-faire of liberalism and the pro-activeness of domestic protection, to support a sustainable and free world market. This compromise builds upon a set of norms and principles that can guide the economic order in legitimising actors, action and therefore behaviour, positions, and interests (Bernstein, 2012). These institutionalised norms give stability and predictability to the global economic order, therefore, gives the global order resistance against sudden events like the financial crises of 2008 (Bernstein, 2012). Embedded Liberalism is, on the one hand, a normative suggestion by Ruggie in how the world ought to be, on the other hand, embedded liberalism has been very much present in the international economic order and is used to explain the international economic order after the Second World War (Bernstein, 2012; Ruggie, 2008; 2009). The second Grand Compromise is based on the first Grand Compromise, but due to the significant developments in the environment, focuses more on the global environmental governance. This grand compromise emerged with the introduction of sustainable development concerning the South-North divide in the global political order (Bernstein, 2001). Liberal Environmentalism is arguing that global environmental governance should be embedded in the liberal economy to secure negative trade-offs from happening in both to the environment as in the economic prosperity (Bernstein, 2002). As with embedded liberalism, liberal environmentalism is both a normative framework, and explanatory device. I argue that both embedded liberalism and liberal environmentalism can be and are, in this thesis, used as explanatory devices, because the two grand comprises consists of an institutionalised set of norms and principles in the global order. Within liberal environmentalism, the set of norms and principles developed through many negotiations, agreements, statements and institutions around global environmental governance (Bernstein, 2000). The grand compromise of liberal environmentalism is not only a way of making environment compatible with the economic system and making one single analytical system for global, national socioeconomic needs and sustainable growth. However, it creates a space for dialogue between political leaders to find a common ground and influence actors through the norms and principles of the compromise (Bernstein, 2002). 13

22 There are also some critiques on the theory of liberal environmentalism; most of the critiques doubt the effectiveness and dominance of liberal environmentalism in explaining the processes in the international political arena (Bäckstrand and Lövbrand, 2007; Dempsey, 2016; Eckersley, 2009; Hadden and Sybert, 2016). Dempsey (2016) argues that only creating a place for dialogue is a threat to get eventually things done because dialogues in most political arenas are avoiding the real deal. When there are bumps on the road political leaders will change the terms of the conservation, and in the end focus on the short term, rather than on the long-term. Hadden and Seybert (2016) also focus on that liberal environmentalism and with this sustainable development is an outcome of failure to launch, meaning that although many actors do claim to adhere with the norm, the actors do not take concrete action. Heininen also sees this happening in the Arctic: The next step is it to take action and create steps for implementation, but on this point, they are hesitating (September 2018). Dempsey (2016) is also concerned that liberal environmentalism is too simplistic in trying to combine the economy and environment. The embedding of the environment in the economy will not lead to the protection of the environment and a solution to the problem in the long term. It only enhances economic prosperity in the short term (Dempsey, 2016). However, the study of Zelli et al. (2013) showed three different case studies concerning environmental degradation and economic opportunities where the international norms where input for the establishment of the policies. This study showed that the interplay between international regimes mirrored the norms of liberal environmentalism (Zelli et al., 2013). Not many studies have been performed to either discourage or promote liberal environmentalism as a paradigm to understand international relations and especially the crossroad between environment and economy. There is thus a gap in empirical studies creating a lack of information about the functioning of the theory of liberal environmentalism as an explanatory device in practice. The Arctic region, which is part of the liberal economic order, is finding itself in a situation where both the environment as well as the economic welfare is at stake, is a great case study to take a closer look at the liberal environmentalism compromise. These trade-offs are governed and negotiated by different actors in the AC. This grand compromise of Liberal Environmentalism that is built upon Embedded Liberalism gives this thesis a foundation to seek to explain the interest-based position of the actors in the AC through concepts like norm-complex and social structure. These elements are discussed below in section 4.4. The toolbox of liberal environmentalism. 4.4 The toolbox of Liberal Environmentalism This section will focus more on how Liberal Environmentalism can help to explain and understand what is going on in the Arctic Council considering the positions different actors take regarding balancing the economy and the environment. Therefore making the theory of Liberal Environmentalism operational is essential for the thesis to in the end work towards an answer for the research questions. Also, making Liberal Environmentalism more operational for empirical cases will help the body of literature of Liberal Environmentalism to develop into a tool for analysing different political 14

23 arenas and governance arrangements. In this section, the fundamental notions and concepts of Liberal Environmentalism will be explained and operationalized Social Structures in Global Governance The theory of liberal environmentalism argues that the social structure in which the actor participates influences the interests of those actors (Bernstein, 2000). Social structure in this thesis is defined as a collective set of rules and resources, both material, such as economic goods, and non-material, such as shared knowledge, that structures behaviour and actions (Giddens and Pierson, 1998; Finnemore, 1996; Porpora, 1989). Social structure can be found all around us, and can therefore also be overlapping. For example, the social structure of Dutch society overlaps with multiple smaller ones, such as the social structure of the Wageningen University, and the social structure of Student Associations. However, the social structure of the Dutch Society also falls within broader structures, such as the social structure of the European Union, and the UN social structure. These social structures influence each other and influence the actor participating in the social structures. An actor, thus, will be influenced by multiple social structures, yet there will always be a social structure that predominates at certain occasions more than other social structures. Social structures are somewhat stable, and changes slowly due to that many institutions and norms are anchored in society (Finnemore, 1996). This means that societies select the norms on the basis if it fits within the social structure or not. The selection criteria the new norms must consist of are in threefold, namely 1) the source of the new norm is recognised as legitimate, 2) the norm fits in the existing social structure, and 3) the norm is consistent with the identities of the main actors in the social structure (Bernstein, 2000). These selection criteria of the social structure form a barrier for new norms to enter, but also creates a setting for developing identities and interests of actors involved in the social structure (Bernstein, 2000, Ruggie, 1998). Therefore, change can be slow and evolutionary, rather than revolutionary (Bernstein, 2002). Norms that are institutionalised through for example agreements and international law become embedded in the social structure. The embedding of norms means that the institutionalised norms will become part of the collective identity and, become more fixed (Bernstein, 2000). Understanding the social structure of the political arena is of importance because social structure partly influences and defines actors interest and actions (Bernstein, 2000; Meyer et al., 1997). Social structure is thus the overarching element in which actors move around. Figure 6, on page 24, shows the relations of the social structure with other concepts like norms and norm-complexes, which I will discuss below Norm-complexes One key element of the social structure is the norms it consists of, these norms together partly define the social structure. Norms are also the centre of Liberal Environmentalism; because Liberal Environmentalism builds upon a group of norms that the global governance arena has negotiated. Norms in this thesis are defined as a set of (unwritten) rules and procedures that guides and influence people, organisations, States. Norms do not stand on their own but are part of social structures and connect 15

24 with other rules and norms in that structure (Therborn, 2002). Also, norms do not appear out of the blue, yet they follow a life cycle (Finnemore and Sikking, 1998). The first phase is that of norm emergence, and this is the phase where norms are being developed and need to compete with the many other norms that are emerging. In the second phase, norms are being accepted, which is called norm cascades. Norm cascades are the process that a critical mass of states and/or other highly valued actors accept the norm. If the critical mass accepted the norm then is causing more actors to comply with a common set of norms (Krook and True, 2010). The last phase, is the period of institutionalisation this is the phase where the norm is being taken-for-granted and thus has become fully part of society without questioning it anymore (Finnemore and Sikking, 1998; Krook and True, 2010). According to Bernstein (2000) is the degree of institutionalisation of importance, because it gives a measurement for defining state interests. The degree of the institutionalisation can be roughly estimated by looking at the social structure the norm is active in (Bernstein, 2000). In-between the phases there are three tipping points for the norms to conquer. If the norms will get into the next stadium of the life cycles, many of the norms vanish during these tipping points of diffuse with similar norms to become stronger. The first tipping point is when the norm losses the competition from all the other emerging norms, this can be for several reasons, one of them is that the norm does not fit in the social structure it emerged in, or that there is a similar norm that gains more significance (Bernstein, 2000). The second tipping point is during the norm cascade if the norm is not broadly recognised, supported and accepted by the critical mass it will also vanish. Lastly, the third tipping point, a new set of ideas forces the institutionalised norms to disappear and make room for more fitted norms and norm-complexes (Bernstein, 20000). Figure 5 shows this process of the life cycle of norms. Bernstein s theory of liberal environmentalism not solely builds on individual norms. Bernstein (2000) focuses on the norm-complexes, which are a bundle of negotiated rules that govern specific issue areas. A norm-complex has a collective purpose yet is not always stated as one, but can simply be found by analysing one norm and revealing the underlying pattern and connections of that norm (Bernstein, 2000). Normcomplex also have a life cycle, and most importantly in the context of international relations, norm-complexes can only exist due to the socialisation of those norms in the international arena, this partly happens via the States. However, more effectively to socialised norms are the nonstate actors who persuade other actors to comply with this set of norms. As discussed above, the actors and existing norms of the social structure influences the institutionalisation of a norm in the social structure. A norm-complex is thus not a social structure by itself, but it can be part of a social structure that surrounds it. Figure 6 shows the relationship between norms, norm-complexes and social structure; different norms and norm-complexes 16 Figure 5: The life cycle of Norms. (Source: Authors own visualization inspired on Finnemore and Sikking, 1998)

25 can complement each other in the social structure. In short, the social structure thus consists of different norms and norm-complexes simultaneously. All the norm, norm-complexes, rules, procedures and institutions define the social structure. Together they can partly explain the interest-based positions of the actors involved in the AC. There have been some critiques on the use of norms as explanatory devices, especially from the discursive approach. The discursive approach agrees that norms can steer Norm Norm Complex behaviour, but denies that norms can be Norm Complex adequately be used in international Social agreements and instruments because structure according to the discursive approach norms Norm Norm is projected in speech acts rather than in agreement (Krook and True, 2010). Looking at norms, rather than discourse gives more in-depth information about positions, interests, and behaviour and show the underlying processes, while discourse shows more the mask of the actors (Bernstein, 2000). Norms are guiding principles that regulate the international arena, and especially what ought to be right. Therefore a weakness of this theory is that norms are guiding, yet not all major actors adhere to these norms and can differ in meaning across states and societies (Bernstein, 2000; Krook and True, 2010). Liberal environmentalism can explain the interest-based positions of actors via the social-structure and the norm-complex. The problem remains that liberal environmentalism does not cover the meaning of the norms for the actors and if the actors adhere to the norms. Still, it is a useful perspective for this thesis, because it will at least show some of the drivers for an interest-based position. The theory of liberal environmentalism argues that the negotiations of UNCED in 1992 are the base for the prominent norm-complex used in global environmental governance (Bernstein, 2000; 2001; 2002). This prominent norm-complex is named after the theory and will throughout the thesis mentioned as the liberal environmentalism normcomplex. The liberal environmentalism norm-complex is thus part of the theory. The theory focuses on the explanation of the interest-based positions of actors through the amount of influence of the liberal environmentalism norm-complex on those actors. Within the UNCED conference, a step forward was made to support the liberalisation of the trade and finance market and simultaneously fit within global environmental protection (Bernstein, 2000). Bernstein (2002) argues that the norm-complex of liberal environmentalism has a significant impact and can be found back in for example agenda 21, World Bank treaties, but also the labelling and certification of forest and fishery products are an outcome of the liberal environmentalism norm-complex (Bernstein, 2002). According to Bernstein (2000; 2001; 2002), this is the norm-complex that guide and regulate the actions, interests, and positions of actors in the issue area of economic welfare combined with environmental protection. The main elements of the liberal environmentalism norm-complex are: 1) State sovereignty over resources, 2) The 17 Figure 6: the Relation between Social structure, Norms and Norm Complex. (Source: Author s own visualization)

26 promotion of global free trade and open markets, 3) the principles of a) the Polluter Pays principle and b) Precautionary principle (Bernstein, 2002). The norms are most explicitly used and institutionalised in the Rio Declaration. Bernstein has written his theory about Liberal environmentalism and thus the norm-complex of liberal environmentalism on the basis of the Rio Declaration of Countless other international conferences have passed, and newer agreements and declarations came into place. This thesis highlights Agenda 2030 with the SDGS and UNFCCC Paris Agreement of 2015 as both agreements that have a significant impact on the Member States, Permanent Participants, and Observers in the AC. These two agreements have impacts on the actors in the AC because the agreements are very much applicable to the Arctic region (Heininen, September 2018). Therefore, the Paris Agreement and the SDGs have been briefly analysed to see if the particular elements of the Liberal Environmentalism norm-complex are still visible. Table 1, on page 19, shows the principles of the Rio Declaration, the SDGS, and the principles of the Paris Agreement connected to the main elements of liberal environmentalism. The norms prevailed by the Liberal Environmentalism norm-complex is still present within both the SDGs and in the Paris Agreement. The resolution made in the general assembly to agree upon the SDGs is more connected to the Rio Declaration of 1992, and therefore holding more norms that predicate for the compatibility of economic and environmental norms. The SDGs profoundly connect economic development and prosperity with environmental protection. The Paris Agreement seems less connected to the norms of the liberal environmentalism norm-complex because its primary focus is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to stay below 1.5 Celsius Degrees. It still shows some elements of the norm-complex of liberal environmentalism, such as the common but differentiated responsibility principle, and the focus on market mechanism although they differ from the market mechanism initially mentioned in the Rio Declaration of The theoretical framework thus builds upon the grand compromises of embedded liberalism and liberal environmentalism that explain the economic world order, as well as the political and environmental governance order. Liberal environmentalism is the leading theory of this thesis for analysing the empirical case of the AC. Both the concepts of norm-complexes and social structures are used as explanatory devices to make sense of the interest-based positions of the actors involved in the AC regarding the trade-off between environment and the economy. 18

27 Table 1: The Liberal Environmentalism norms compared to the original Principles of the Rio Declaration, and the new Agenda 2030 and Paris Agreement (Sources: Bernstein 2000, 2002; and Authors own analysis) Liberal Environmentalism Norms State Sovereignty and Liability Principles of the Rio Declaration (UNCED- 1992) 1. Sovereignty over resources and environmental protection within state borders. Responsibility for pollution beyond state borders. (Principles 2,13, and 14) including: a) advanced notification of potential environmental harm (Principles 18 and 19); and b) state right to exploit resources is to be pursuant to development in addition to environment policies. SDGs of the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development (General Assembly ) 1. Unchanged, they reaffirmed the principles of the Rio Declaration within the resolution of the General Assembly (11, and SDG 17.15, 17.18). Except: to reduce inequality among countries and support each other more (SDG 10) Articles of the Paris Agreement (UNFCCC ) 1. Unchanged Including: a) unchanged (Article 8.4); and b) helping developing countries to meet their national targets, for example financial support (Article 9). Political economy of environment and development 2. Common but differentiated responsibility of developed and developing countries. (Principles 3, 7, and 11). Development takes precedence if costs of environmental protection to high. (Principle 11). 3. Free trade and liberal markets. Environment and free markets compatible. (Principle 12). 2. Unchanged, agreed upon within the resolution of the General Assembly (SDG 10.a). 3. Unchanged. (SDG 2.b, 8, 9, ). More focus on the use of sustainable development for conservation (SDG 9, 14, 15) Yet more regulation and monitoring of the global financial market and institutions (SDG 10) 4. Not explicitly mentioned 2. Unchanged. Yet, more focus on national circumstances rather the developed versus developing. (Articles 2.2) The Concerns of economies that are fragile to the impacts of response measures should be taken into consideration (Article 4.15) 3. Unchanged. Although, focus lies more on the role of sustainable development in reducing risk of 19

28 4. Transfers left primarily to market mechanisms, except for least developed countries. 5. Major focus on improving circumstances, such as infrastructure, schooling and health, for more sustainable economic growth (SDG 3, 8, and 9). climate change (Article 7.9e, 8) 4. The Paris Agreement both focuses on Market mechanisms and non-market approaches to assist the implementation of the NDCs, especially for the developed countries (Article 6). 5. The Principle of results-based payments it introduced as a market mechanism to create positive incentives for activities relating to transferrable reducing emissions (Article 5.2). Environmental Management 5. Multilateral cooperation for global economic growth as necessary for other goals. Plus human centered development. (Principles 1, 7, and 27). 6. Market mechanisms favored. PPP and precautionary principle. (Principles 16 and 15). 6. Environmental management in Agenda 2030 can be found on both marine and terrestrial ecosystem, especially focused on fisheries and forestry (SDG 14 and 15). 7. PPP and precautionary principles are not explicitly mentioned. Yet, sustainable management (ecosystem-based management) should promote and increase economic benefits (SDG 14. 7, 15.4). 6. Unchanged. Except: More Focus on technological innovation for long-term response to climate change and promoting economic growth and sustainable development that is needed for mitigation, adaptation and resilience (Article 10). 7. Market Mechanisms such as PPP and Precautionary principles are not mentioned, yet the principle of results-based payments and transferring mitigation outcomes (Article 5.2.) 20

29 5. Methodology Climate change creates both challenges and opportunities for the Arctic region. There are, on the one hand, significant negative impacts on the environment from climate change requiring environmental management and, on the other hand, there is the chance of new economic activities and development such as shipping, mining and oil and gas exploitation. This trade-off creates different interest in multiple actors in the Arctic Region. The thesis assumes that these trade-off influences the interest-based positions of the actors in the AC. Liberal environmentalism will help to explain these interestbased positions. The thesis focuses on the interest of the actors in the AC and with the analyses of the balance between the environmental agenda and economic interest. The basis for this methodology framework is Qualitative research, meaning that the researcher has tried to understand and explain their interest-based positions by analysing the norms and social structure, in particular, the liberal environmental normcomplex and the social structure of the AC. This is the interpretive approach in qualitative research (Hennink et al., 2011). The research uses textual data, referring to official policy documents of the actors analysed. This research does not use quantitative analysis in order to explain the interest of the actors, however, in chapter seven the research will use a quantitative method to show the relationship of the actors with the liberal environmentalism norm-complex. I will discuss this method below, and elaborate on in detail in chapter seven. This methodology section explains the logic and reasoning behind the selection criteria, methods and data analysis used for this master thesis. Firstly, I discuss the selection criteria, which leads to argumentation behind the selection of case actors for this thesis. Secondly, the focus lies on different data collection methods. The methods are the tools used in order to collect sufficient data for the research (Thiel, 2014). Lastly, I will discuss how data analysis is conducted and focus on the first limitations of the methodology framework regarding political sensitivity and subjectivity Selection criteria In order not the get lost in all the documents there is need to narrow down the research. This narrowing down is done with the use of purposive sampling, meaning that the researcher selects specific units of study on the basis of selection criteria (Thiel, 2014). This research focuses mainly on the three different types of actors in the Arctic Council. These actors consist of eight Arctic States, the Member States, six Indigenous People groups, the Permanent Participants, and thirteen non-governmental organisations, inter-governmental and inter-parliamentary organisation and non-arctic states, thus a total of 39 observers (Arctic Council, n.d.). Researching all these actors is an impossible mission for the duration of time this master thesis has. Therefore, the following selection criteria helped the researcher to select the most useful actors for this research, to still do a comprehensive study within the limits of the period. The selection criteria are as followed: 21

30 At least one and preferably two of each type of actor, the Member States, Permanent Participants, and Observers, will be researched. There must be at least one of each type of actor in the research to get the full picture of the Arctic Council. Although preferably two of each type actors will be sufficient, since then the difference and similarities within the types of actors can also be shown, creating a better understanding of the different interests and positions in the Arctic Council. Access to official statements and documents in English or good secondary sources. This thesis needs the access to these documents, or that other scholars have written about these sources, for example in the case of Russia where the publicity of policy document is more closed than other States. Without sufficient sources, the analysis will not be complete and useful for this research. Access to interviews with representatives or those who work closely with the research subject. Getting detailed information through semi-structured interviews is of importance in the research, especially to get the underlying interests of the actors. Both a littoral Arctic state and non-littoral Arctic state. This division in the Arctic between being an Arctic state with a coast on the Arctic Oceanside or not is of importance because this probably gives a different opinion about issues around the Arctic Ocean and thus probably a diversity in interests and positions. At least one non-arctic state and one environmental NGO as research subjects for the observers. Since, both observers will have different views on the trade-off between economics and the environment, which is a heated topic in the Arctic Council and how this should be balanced. The organisational structure and the representativeness of the organisation define the selection of the permanent participant. This selection criterion means that the permanent participant needs to be well organised and represent a large part of the indigenous population of the Arctic. There are also differences in Arctic indigenous people, especially when looking at the livelihood strategy. This difference, of course, also defines their interests and positions in the Arctic Council. These criteria helped the researcher to select the proper subjects and not get lost in the many documents and thus make a comprehensive analysis of the most appropriate research subjects for this thesis. Table 2 shows the selection of the actors. These actors meet partly the selection criteria mentioned above. Although WWF does barely comply with the selection criteria, it is still chosen as an actor. WWF is the only environmental NGO in the AC, and therefore WWF is a valuable actor for a research subject. WWF can challenge the theory of Liberal Environmentalism exceptionally well. 22

31 Table 2: Selection of Actors Type of actor Who Why Arctic State A Sweden (Non-littoral Arctic State) Arctic State B Kingdom of Denmark (Via Greenland) (Littoral State) Sweden as an Arctic State without an Arctic coast has a different position the littoral states in the AC. Also, Sweden does have an Indigenous population to keep in mind. Denmark has an interesting position because it has territories in the Arctic via Greenland, but at the same time, its government lies outside of the Arctic region. Permanent Participant A Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) The ICC represents 160,000 Inuit in the Arctic Region. Moreover, represents with this the biggest group of Indigenous people in the Arctic. Most Inuit depend on snow, ice, fishing, and hunting for the livelihood strategy. Permanent Participant B Sami Council The Sami Council represents 137,000 Sami living in the Northern parts of Scandinavian countries and the Murmansk region of Russia. Most of the Sami depend on reindeer herding and fishing as a livelihood strategy. Observer A The Netherlands (Non-Arctic State) The Netherlands has been an observer from the beginning of the Arctic Council (1998). Also, the Netherlands has probably conflicting interests, due to being threatened by rising sea level, and at the same time being home of Shell, who has interests in drilling for oil in the Arctic. Also, the researcher is Dutch and therefore access to the Senior official is already granted. 23

32 Observer B WWF (Environmental NGO) The WWF has also been an observer from the beginning of the Arctic Council and is well recognised by the international community as a respected negotiation partner. 5.2 Data Collection - Methods Based on the problem statement and theoretical framework of this master thesis, there is a need to use different methods For this research, there is a need for a broad range of data, from literature review as a basis towards specific information to make the thesis more in-depth. Therefore, this thesis has made use of a literature review, policy documents analysis, and semi-structured interviews, which will be discussed respectively. Literature review A literature review is a good starting point for any research since it shows information from previous research on the topic or theory (Walliman, 2006). The literature review conducted for this thesis consists of literature from the theory and the topic, to give an overarching set of data that can be used first of all in understanding the debate around the theoretical framework of liberal environmentalism and make informed decisions on how to proceed with the theoretical framework. Also, the existing literature has helped with a more focused perspective on the case study of the AC and the actors selected. The literature review also gave the researcher a complete image of the situation in the Arctic, AC, and the foundation of the interest-based positions of the actors. The literature review has been the first step of the data collection, although throughout the thesis literature review has always been a side activity to make sense of the empirical data collection. For collection of sufficient literature I have used multiple databases, such as Google.Scholar, Scopus, and the (online) library of the Wageningen University. I solely include social science and English articles in the literature searches. With these criteria I exclude non-english sources and environmental science sources. I had to make this selection otherwise I would have had an enormous set of literature, which would not have been useful for the research. At least with the selection, the articles became more relevant for the topic. In the literature collection I used multiple keywords. These keywords consists of: Liberal Environmentalism, Embedded Liberalism Liberal Environmentalism AND Arctic, Arctic Governance, Social Structure in Governance Arrangements, Norm-Complex, Interests AND Arctic, Arctic AND Economy, Arctic AND Environment. These are the main keywords I used to search for relevant literature for both the theoretical framework and background information on the cases. Besides this I used the reference list of key articles, such as Ruggie (1982) and Bernstein (2000; 2001; 2002), to find other relevant articles. Also, with Google.Scholar I found articles that referenced these two key articles. I used this method to find a broader and appropriate range of literature. 24

33 Policy Documents In order to answer the main research question policy documents are a vital source of data that describe the strategies of the MS, PP, and Observers and the documents of the Arctic Council itself, which are made available through their webpage. Analysis of text and documents gives an interpretation of written sources, in this case, the documents of the actors (Walliman, 2006). The documents of the actors give a view of the underlying interests that are related to the interest-based position of the actors, and the AC documents show the structure of the AC that influences the actors positions. Documents are easily findable by using keywords such as Arctic Strategy or Polar Strategy. Also, all the official documents are available on the websites of the actors. Table 3 shows the documents analysed for this thesis, these consist of declarations of the AC and policy or strategies of the actors regarding the Arctic. The only exception is WWF because WWF does not have an overarching policy or strategy regarding the Arctic Region. In this case, the researcher consulted the webpage of WWF Arctic Programme and one published assessment on the AC and its actors to inform the researcher about WWF interest-based position. The Saami Council did not publish their policy document. The Saami Council plans to publish their Arctic Strategy in February The Saami Council sent the documents regarding their position to the researcher personally and permitted to use it a valuable source for this thesis. Table 3: Analysed policy documents Issuing Institution/ Actor Document Title Publication year AC Ottawa Declaration 1996 AC Inari Declaration 2002 AC Iqaluit Declaration 2015 AC Arctic Council Rules of 2013 Procedure Sweden Sweden s Strategy for the Arctic Region 2011 Kingdom of Denmark Strategy for the Arctic ICC Inuit Arctic Policy 2012 Saami Council EU Arctic Stakeholder 2017 Forum Sápmi Report. Saami Council The Saami Council Arctic Forthcoming Strategy The Netherlands Dutch Polar Strategy WWF WWF s Mission, Guiding 2017 Principles and Goals WWF Arctic Programme WWF Arctic Council 2017 Conservation Scorecard WWF Arctic Programme How we work n.d. (Webpage) 25

34 Semi-structured interviews The last data collection method was semi-structured interviews with the representatives of the actors selected and two experts from the Arctic Centre and the University of Lapland. The interviewees where contacted per from July till October The addresses of the representative in the AC are made available on the webpage of the AC itself. The expert interviewees where contacted on the basis of personal contacts of the researcher at the University of Lapland. The actors and thus the representative interviewees where selected on forehand through selection criteria discussed below. Interviews are a ubiquitous way of collecting data throughout the social sciences. (Packer, 2011:42). Interviews are the primary method of many social science researches. There are structured interviews, which is highly structured and focused on specific topics (Hennink et al., 2011). Then there are unstructured interviews, where there is no set of questions, even topics. Unstructured interviews obtain insights into the attitudes of the interviewees, and their personal story (Walliman, 2006). This thesis makes use of the third category in interviews, namely semi-structured interviews. Semistructured interviews are less structured then structured interviews and more structured then open interviews (Hennink et al., 2011). Therefore, the researcher has the flexibility to address topics with different questions or different wording for different actors. It also gives the interviewees the possibility to speak more freely about the topic and gives the researcher a first person account (Packer, 2011). Appendix I show the interview guide used for this thesis. I held the semi-structured interviews with eight interviewees, of which six representatives and two experts. From the actors, only WWF has not been interviewed. WWF has rejected to have an interview due to human resources and limited time in the period of this thesis. The interviews are held anonymously, because of the sensitive topics discussed. The interviews are transcribed and accepted by all the interviewees personally, and thus the reader, if necessary can ask for these transcripts by the researcher of this thesis. In the following table 4 shows the list of interviewees, later on in the thesis these interviews will be referred to the reference found in the table. Table 4: List of Interviewees Actor/Expert Reference Date of Interview Means 1. The Netherlands The Representative of the Netherlands 17 th of July In person 2. Expert Arctic Smieszek 18 th Of July Skype Centre 3. Greenland The representative of Greenland 23th of July Phone 26

35 4. Denmark Representative of 4 th of September Phone the Kingdom of Denmark 5. Expert Heininen 14 th of September Phone University of Lapland 6. Sweden Swedish 27 th of September Phone Government Representative 7. Saami Council Representative of Saami Council 12 th of October Via Mail 8. ICC Representative of ICC-Canada 17 th of October Phone To conclude, as shown above, different methods are used to collect data in this research. The use of different methods is done to triangulate the data and therefore reach an overall conclusion at the end of this research. Triangulation is a technique to validate and verify the data across different methods and sources in order to overcome biases and weaknesses in the research (Bogdan and Biklen, 2006). Triangulation in this research is essential to go beyond the official statements and look into the underlying positions and interests. Political sensitivity The Arctic Council is a regional and soft law institution, which discusses sensitive topics. Therefore, this research has some risks and uncertainties, especially regarding data collection. Due to these sensitive topics, access was difficult to get and therefore narrows down the research possibilities. First of all, the chair of the AC rejected the researcher access to the SAO meeting in November 2018 in Rovaniemi, Finland. Observation would have been a complementary method if the AC granted the research access to the meeting. Even without the possibility of using observation as a method, the researcher still had other methods that were sufficient to answer the main research question. Secondly, due to the political sensitivity of the research topic, the researcher asked for the consent of the interviewees for recording and transcribing the interview and always gave the interviewees the possibility to read the transcript and the draft parts in the thesis about their organisation. Many of the interviewees requested to read the draft version up front, in order to make sure the researcher understood the interviewee correctly. 5.3 Data Analysis The data collection is done using three methods and thereby triangulation. The methods are literature review, policy documents and interviews. For analysing the interviews the 27

36 research were transcribed with the use of a basic transcription. Basic transcription means that that filler words and statements like ugh, and uhm but also background sounds are not transcribed in the final transcript (transcribe, 2018). The researcher chose basic transcription in order not to get lengthy transcripts and lose the essence of the interviewee s story. Transcribing the interviews was essential for proceeding with the data analysis. The data is analysed using the qualitative method of coding. Coding is the application of labels or tags to allocate units of meaning to collected data (Walliman, 2006). A code is thus a word or short phrase that symbolically assigns a summative, salient, essencecapturing, and/or evocative attribute for a portion of language-based or visual data (Saldaña, 2009: 3). Coding is thus an interpretative act that is used in qualitative research in order to make sense of textual data collected (Saldaña, 2009). Atlas.ti computer software helped with the coding to grasp multiple documents, and even voice records with the same procedure of coding. Table 5 shows the code types and codes used in this thesis. The codes employed for this thesis might seem general and broad at first. However, the policy documents analysed have a broad generic level, and also the interview stayed on a rather broad level. Therefore, the codes are very well applicable to the textual data collected. Table 5: List of Codes Code Type Activities Interests Dependence Environmental Protection Code Fishing Oil and Gas exploitation Mining Forestry Shipping Traditional subsistence activities Economic development Environment management Geopolitics Sovereignty and Security Economics Environment Traditional Livelihood Security Polluter Pays Principle Precautionary Principle Ecosystem-based Management Subjectivity The researcher was aware of its own position and bias within the research, mainly because it can colour the outcome of the research. Within this thesis, the researcher has tried to be as objective as possible, yet there will always be some subjectivity, primarily 28

37 because this research used coding, which is an interpretative method. The codes were developed by the researcher herself, giving already priorities to certain areas. The researcher has worked open-minded, and the codes have developed over time to get a most objective perspective on the research possible. Furthermore, the topic itself works with concepts that have multiple meanings to multiple actors like environmental protection and most of all sustainable development. Sustainable development meant something different for all the actors involved in the research, and this has been taken in mind and also will the research reflected upon later on in this thesis. 29

38 6. Dependences on the Arctic This chapter focuses on the first sub-question: What are the historical, environmental and socio-economic dependency relations on the Arctic of the main participating actors in the Arctic Council? This chapter analyses each actor along the lines of historical, environmental and economic dependency relations. The dependency relations can give input later in the thesis to understand why certain actors take a specific position. Although some dependency relations might seem straightforward, it still shows a source of influence for the actors to take certain standpoints. First, this chapter will view the dependency relations of the Arctic States, Sweden and the Kingdom of Denmark respectively, than the PP, Inuit, and Sámi respectively, and finally the observers, Netherlands and WWF respectively. 6.1 Member States Having a summary of the main dependency relations is essential, although it might seem clear what the dependency relation of Member States is with the Arctic Region. A part of their territories lies within the Arctic Region generating economic activities. These dependency relations can, later on in the thesis, explain why these two Arctic States have a particular interest-based position regarding the trade-off between the economy and the environment. Therefore, this part will discuss the essential dependency relations of Sweden and the Kingdom of Denmark based on interviews and official documents Sweden In the Middle Ages Sweden conquered Lapland and considered it to be part of the Kingdom (Government Offices of Sweden, 2011). This part of Lapland also called Sápmi among the Indigenous Peoples Sámi, lies within the Arctic Region, making Sweden an Arctic State. Over the years the involvement of Sweden in Lapland and Sweden in the world has created dependence on the Arctic. In this thesis, I will refer to Sweden regarding the Arctic Region in Sweden. The statistical data used is data from Arctic Sweden. Sweden thus has historical ties with the Arctic region, starting from the Middle Ages, yet Sweden became more active in the Arctic region through symbolic research by biologist and plant researcher Carl Linnaeus in From this point forward polar research became a reason for Sweden to become active in other Arctic territories, as well. Spitsbergen, better known as Svalbard, was seen as an ideal location for Swedish Arctic research activities and still is a prominent station in Swedish Polar research (Government Offices of Sweden, 2011). In 1984 the agency Swedish Polar Research Secretariat was established to arrange cooperation for research activities, and gaining importance with their icebreaker Oden, which contributes significantly to research activities in the Arctic Ocean, even during winter periods (Swedish Government Representative, September 2018). Swedish researchers, but also international researchers from the Arctic and beyond the Arctic make use of icebreaker Oden (Swedish Government Representative, September 2018). 30

39 Sweden depends, in line with most other Arctic States, on natural resources for the economic viability. Since Sweden is not an Arctic coastal state, meaning that they do not have a coast on the Arctic Ocean, fishing is not the most prominent natural resource deployed in Arctic Sweden, but forestry is key in Sweden. Sweden is world leading in pulp and paper production and the wood industry (Government Offices of Sweden, 2011). Forestry together with Agriculture and fishing has only an added value of 3.3% in 2012 in Arctic Sweden (Glomsrød et al., 2015)(Table 6). The forestry is part of the manufacturing industry, which holds a firm place concerning the GRP of Sweden even with the lowering contribution through the financial crisis of 2008 (Glomsrød et al., 2015). An industry that is of great importance for the Swedish Arctic economy is mining and holds around 10.9% of share in the total GRP, a little bit lower than the manufacturing industry with 11.7% of the share (Table 6). Seven of the 16 mines are located within Arctic Sweden (SGU, n.d.). The mining industry in Sweden also has a significant contribution to the European market of iron ore the share of state-owned company LKAB is 90%, and all mines of LKAB are in Arctic Sweden (Swedish Government Representative, ; Glomsrød et al., 2015; LKAB, 2017). This makes the mines in Arctic Sweden not only crucial for Sweden, but also for the European market. This market share creates a dependency relation both ways. Although mining is not related to climate change, it is as an economic activity that damages the environment and provides tensions around the land use in Arctic Sweden. Table 6: Value added by Industry in 2008 and 2012 in Sweden (Source: Glomsrød et al., 2015 p65) Agriculture, Forestry and fishing Mill. SEK Per Cent Mill. SEK Per Cent Mining and Quarrying Manufacturing Utilities Construction Wholesale and retail trade Transportation and storage Accommodation and food services Financial and insurance services Real estate activities Public administration and defence Education Health care and social work Other service activities Total The land used for the mining activities is also part of the Sápmi, homeland of the Sámi, their culture has strong links to the surrounding natural environment, and mining disturbs this process (Government Offices of Sweden, 2011). Also, environmentalists are concerned that the mining will cause pollution of both land and water due to leakages 31

40 (Glomsrød et al., 2015). This tension gives Sweden dilemma between environment and economy. Sweden has voted in favour of the UN indigenous right declaration and showed with this the willingness to respect the rights of the Indigenous Sámi (UN, 2007). This declaration creates thus a limitation and dependences for Sweden. The combination of the culture of Sámi and the wilderness attract more and more tourism that provides Sweden with a new source of income. (Government Offices of Sweden, 2011; Swedish Government Representative, ). Sweden attracts more than two million tourists each year (Keil, 2017). On the one hand, tourism creates pressure on the environment, including water, waste disposal and pollution, but, on the other hand, climate change threatens winter tourism due to higher temperatures (Keil, 2017). Keeping the environment and the livelihood of Sámi stable ensures a source of income in Arctic Sweden. In short, Sweden is, on the one hand, depending on mining extraction, which changes the landscape, but simultaneously benefits from the traditional livelihood of the Sámi through tourism and depends on the environment to protect livelihoods and create economic development Kingdom of Denmark The Kingdom of Denmark consists of Denmark, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland. The latter one lies centrally in the Arctic making the Kingdom of Denmark an Arctic State, yet the Faroe Islands are generally assigned to the Arctic as well although it does not lie within the Arctic Circle (the Kingdom of Denmark, 2011). Both the Faroe Islands and Greenland have a self-ruling government, yet in the Arctic Council, the three countries speak with one voice (Representative of Denmark, 2018). Nonetheless, this part will discuss the dependency relation of the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Denmark, respectively, as they are entirely different. First of all, the Faroe Islands is an archipelago of 18 small islands covering around 275,399 Square Kilometres of territories hosting around 50,000 inhabitants of which 40% lives in the capital Tórshavn (The Government Of the Faroe Islands, 2018). Because of the geographical character of the Faroe Islands the main livelihood strategy is based on fisheries and other marine resources (Glomsrød et al., 2015). Since marine resources have been the primary strategy over many years, this has a significant impact on the social, political and economic life of the Islands (Smits et al., 2014). Figure 7 shows the total catch of fish in tonnes per year in the Faroese territories starting from the year The figure shows that in recent years, after a small decrease cost by the financial crisis, the tonnes of total catch fish have increased again. 32

41 Figure 7: The total Catch of fish in tonnes per year in the Faroese Territories (StatBank, 2018) The economy of Faroe Island depends on these fisheries because around 80 per cent of the export value consists of fish products (Glomsrød et al., 2015). Table 7 shows the value added by industry at the Faroe Island between 2008 and 2012 and this table shows that the fisheries expanded their share in the national economy from 9.3% to 11.4%. Aquaculture and Fish processing has also increased in share in the national economy, creating in total a 21% share of marine-based activities in the national economy of the Faroe Islands (Glomsrød et al., 2015). These numbers show the on-going dependency with the marine resources in general for the inhabitants and economy of the Faroe Islands. Table 7: Value added by Industry in 2008 and 2012 at the Faroe Islands (Source: Glomsrød et al., 2015 p48) Mill. DKK Per Cent Mill. DKK Per Cent Agriculture and Forestry Fishing Aquaculture Fish Processing Mining and Quarrying Other Manufacturing Utilities Construction Wholesale and retail trade Transportation and Storage Accommodation and Food services Real Estate Activities Public Administration Education Health care and Social Work Other Service Activities Total

42 Table 7 shows that there are some small benefits from mining and quarrying for the economy of the Faroe Islands. Since 2000 the first licenses were given to the exploration of petroleum in the Faroe Islands, yet so far there have not been any viable discoveries (Glomsrød, 2015). Although it might not have been viable, this activity has been beneficial for the Faroese economy especially because the exploration activities have created a knowledge-based economy related to these activities. Now the Faroe Islands use this knowledge in and outside their territories to do consults for other parties active in the offshore business (Smits et al., 2015). The Faroe Island is thus marine resourcebased economy trying to expand its economy with mining and quarrying of natural oil and gas resources offshore. Besides their economic activities, the Faroe Island receive an annual block grant from Denmark of 642 million DKK, which is around 3.3% of the GDP of Faroe Island and 13% of the national budget (The government of the Faroe Islands, 2018a). Secondly, Greenland, which is the world largest island with its 2.166,086 square kilometres, which is for 85% covered with ice caps. The population is around with most of them being Indigenous Peoples connected to Inuit (Government of Greenland, n.d.). Greenland just as the Faroe Island depends majorly for their economy on fisheries. Around 88% of the exports are fish products, making the Greenlandic economy fragile to not only international price fluctuations but also environmental changes (Government of Greenland, n.d.). In table 8 the value added per industry in Greenland between 2008 and 2012 shows that fishing gains importance with 2.2%. Table 8: Value added by industry in 2008 and 2012 in Greenland (Source: Glomsrød et al., 2015 p53) Mill. DKK Per Cent Mill. DKK Per Cent Agriculture and Forestry Fishing Petroleum and other mining Manufacturing Utilities Construction Wholesale and retail trade Transportation and storage Accommodation and food services Financial and insurance services Real estate activities Public administration and defence Education Health care and social work Other Service Activities Total The livestock of fish might change over time and has already changed in the Greenlandic waters, yet it was not a negative change. The increasing sea temperature introduced the 34

43 mackerel in the Greenlandic waters in 2011, and in 2017 the value of mackerel catch was 291,173 DKK (Glomsrød et al., 2015 and Statbank Greenland, 2018). Greenland does not only depend on fisheries for the economic stability but also on the annual block grant Denmark is providing Greenland, this annual block grant is around 470 million euros. Greenland is highly dependent on this annual block grant for stabilising its economy (Rahbek-Clemmensen, 2011). Although this annual block grant is stabilising the Greenlandic economy, Greenland is trying to thrive for economic independence and mainly; therefore, Greenland has decided to diversify their economic resources (Representative of Greenland, 2018). Due to climate change, the icecaps melt rapidly making mineral resources available for future extractions. The same step has been made towards oil and gas extraction where already 15 licenses have been given to explore the possibilities for Greenland, creating a possibility for new economic activity (Glomsrød et al., 2015; Smits et al., 2014). It is very much likely that due climate change there will be made a shift in the economic resources from marine resources towards the minerals and energy sector (Smits et al., 2014; Representative of Greenland, 2018). Thus, for now, Greenland depends heavily on the economic support of Denmark and the marine resources, yet due to climate change, a possibility for economic independence occurs for Greenland. Thirdly, Denmark does not lie within the Arctic and is thus on its own not an Arctic State. Although due to that Kingdom of Denmark consists of two Arctic States, Denmark does play a role in the Arctic and has therefore also dependency relations. As just mentioned in the parts of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, Denmark spends around 556 million euros annually on the two Arctic States. What does Denmark gain of this spending budget? Denmark does not thrive economically from the two Arctic States, and it even costs Denmark money, yet Denmark does not seem to find this a problem to have this relationship with the two states. One explanation is that in the Cold War Greenland was a strategic point between the Soviet Union and the United States of America. Denmark showed its political will to the United States of America to agree on the America Thule Airbase in Northern Greenland. Since then Greenland had become a bargaining chip for Denmark to ensure the safety of Denmark, but also to gain political capital (Rahbek-Clemmensen, 2011). This construction made in the Second World War still gained even more value during the Cold War, and even today Denmark seems to hold on to the agreement for showing support and gaining political capital. The Kingdom of Denmark thus has different dependency relations with the Arctic region that have different forms and significance. Both Faroe Islands and Greenland depend on natural and marine resources in the Arctic and most likely will depend even stronger on these resources for economic stability in the future. Although Denmark might not be an Arctic State, it has strong dependencies ties with both Greenland and the Faroe Islands as well as to gain political capital and safety for Denmark itself. This shows that the dependency relations are not solely based on economic profits, but also on political stability and security issues. 6.2 Permanent Participants The Permanent Participants consists of six Indigenous Peoples organisation striving for their interests and rights. Many of the Indigenous Peoples living in the Arctic have a 35

44 livelihood strategy closely related to their environment, making them more depended on their habitats then non-indigenous people. Most of Inuit or Sámi people have a livelihood based on mixed cash and local harvest economy (Andersen et al., 2002; Wenzel, 2013). In this part, the central dependency relations of Inuit and the Sámi are being discussed, respectively. The input is based on official documents, interviews with the representatives of both Inuit and the Sámi and mainly on the report the Economy of the North 2015 statistical analyses (Glomsrød et al., 2015). The latter source is mainly used because numbers on the dependence of the Indigenous Peoples are hard to find in the statistics of the countries the Indigenous People live Inuit Inuit are Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic living in Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Chukotka, Russia. Around 160,000 Inuit living in the Arctic Region, who are being represented in the Arctic Council by the Inuit Circumpolar Council, hereafter ICC (ICC, 2016). Inuit are living in the Arctic for millennia and have been able to adapt themselves to changing environments and changing circumstances regarding colonisation (Representative of ICC-Canada, October 2018). As for most Indigenous Peoples groups, the subsistence of their livelihood is highly linked to their natural habitat and its resources. Therefore, making them highly dependent on the wellbeing of their environment for the continuity of a healthy livelihood. This part will explain the dependency relations of Inuit on sustaining their livelihood. Inuit main resources of existence are wild animals, such as seal, narwhal, walrus, fish, and caribou (Glomsrød et al., 2015; ICC, 2008). Due to this dependence on the game as food source causes an uncertain position for Inuit with the rapid development of climate change (Glomsrød et al., 2015). Although most of Inuit still live off the land, also a majority has a paid job for their subsistence (Chabot, 2003; Wenzel, 2013). The main reason for the wage employment among Inuit is the fact that their subsistence has been integrated with the local and global market, making money essential for sustaining their livelihood. The monetary income can help Inuit to modernise their livelihood strategies with snowmobiles and mobile phones. This is an example of how the integration of the two economies has helped Inuit in their subsistence (Chabot, 2003, Glomsrød et al., 2015, Wenzel, 2013). The downside of the mixed economy approach is, for example, the increasing cost of fuel; this creates a dependency relation of Inuit on the global market economy for their activities (Glomsrød et al., 2015). Another primary source of income that is connected to the traditional livelihood of Inuit is seal hunting, which can contribute to 35% of the total income of Inuit. For example, seal hunting in Nunavut, Canada generates a value of 4 till 6 million CAD a year, having a significant impact on the economic opportunities of these communities (Glomsrød et al., 2015). Cultural economy is also of importance for Inuit; around 30% of the Nunavut Inuit in Canada depends on the cultural economy for their subsistence, selling handicrafts connected to Inuit culture (Glomsrød et al., 2015). However, the traditional livelihood is threatened by the fast-changing climate, creating difficulties for the livelihoods of Inuit. One difficulty is the retreating of the ice, on which Inuit depend for their culture, such as fishing and seal hunting, but also as a road for transportation in winter periods (ICC, 2008). The ICC (2008) sketch in their report the sea is our 36

45 highway the importance of marine resources both animals and means of transportation. The ICC (2008) argues that this element is threatened by climate change, but also by economic activities should as shipping, which disturbs the habitats of animals and damages the ice. Lastly, economic development is not a red flag; this means that although there are some significant concerns about the impact of those developments on Inuit homeland economic development is very much needed since most of Inuit communities are living in harsh socioeconomic conditions. Due to climate change traditional knowledge, such as predictive weather forecast is getting harder to sustain, which gives Inuit a problematic task to rely on their traditional knowledge, creating a need to rely on other sources of information and activities to survive (Glomsrød et al., 2015). With changing biodiversity and ecological system, a search has begun for alternatives. One of these alternatives lies within Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI), which is a Nunavut land claims organization holding square kilometres of land with mineral rights in Nunavut, Canada. NTI hold this land on behalf of Inuit, and when the conditions are right NTI will participate in the minerals, oil and gas sector (Glomsrød et al., 2015). This trend shows that Inuit despite still living off the land with wage employment as a contributor for their subsistence are dependent on both environmental changes in the environment as well as global economic changes, creating specific vulnerability for Inuit communities living in the Arctic Sámi The Sámi are Indigenous People spread across the Sápmi, which is the homeland of the Sámi. The Sápmi stretches over four countries hosting Sami in Norway Sami in Sweden, approx Sami in Finland and approx Sami in Russia (Sametinget, 2014). The Saami Council phrased the essence of the Sámi way of living in the Tråanta Declaration (2017a: 1): The basis for Sámi life is Sápmi the legacy of our the mother the Sun and our father, the Earth. Lands and waters where we had lived in all times before national boundaries divided our country. This quote shows two dependencies of the Sámi, namely 1) the dependence on their direct surroundings and 2) the dependence on the nation-states that have separated the Sápmi. This part will focus on those dependency relations that Sámi has with Sápmi, culturally, economically and environmentally, which are interrelated. The Sámi traditionally had a nomadic lifestyle based on hunting and gathering, but over time the Sámi people settled in different regions, creating different subsistence of their livelihood. The two main livelihood strategies of the Sámi are fishing by the coastal Sámi and reindeer herding by the Mountain and Forest Sámi, but also Sámi handicrafts and designs is a source of income (Ahrén, 2004; Saami Council, Forthcoming). All three subsistence usually are seen as micro-enterprises, which is small-scale and locally, expanding the market is difficult for Sámi enterprisers, because of fragmentations of markets due to the national borders, this stagnates the potential development of the Sámi economy, although the Sámi product is of importance in the national and international market (Saami Council, 2017b; Saami Council, Forthcoming). Online businesses have increased its potential mainly among young Sámi women who expanded their market through Internet (Sametinget, 2014). Another threat the Sámi 37

46 economy is facing is the available land for reindeer herding. Reindeer herding requires a vast area of land in which husbandry can migrate in the different seasons (Sametinget, 2014). The available land for reindeer herding is being diminished due to use of land by commercial and state companies for activities like mining, hydropower and wind power, creating landscapes unsuitable for reindeer herding and thus is competing with the Sámi livelihood (Saami Council, 2017a). Reindeer herding plays a crucial role in Sámi societies both economically and culturally and is thus of vital importance for the existence of the Sámi way of life (Saami Council, 2017; Saami Council, Forthcoming). The reindeerherding sector also provides positive impacts on connecting businesses, such as transport companies (Sametinget, 2014). All traditional subsistence of the Sámi have connected to the traditional knowledge the Sámi encounter, this is as a vital resource of well-being, yet due to changing climate conditions creating unpredictable weather forecasts, and sudden changes in the weather patterns, creates a threatening situation for the Sámi people and their livelihood. Thus, the Sámi people have two dependencies, 1) their environmental surroundings, which is being threatened by climate change, and 2) the fragmentation due to national borders, and the fact that national states proceed economic development that can harm the Sámi livelihood and environment. 6.3 Observers The observers in the Arctic Council consist of 13 non-governmental organisation, intergovernmental or inter-disciplinary organisations and non-arctic States. The full list of observers can be found on the website of the AC. Observers have a limited task in the Arctic Council, and their primary focus is to observe the work of the AC and engage where possible in working groups, task forces, and expert groups (Arctic Council, 2013; 2018). In 2013 the AC agreed upon an Arctic Council observer Manual, which describes the rules and tasks of the observers. The observers have thus limited power, yet 39 observers are willing to participate in the AC and comply with the set rules for observers. Therefore, it is good to know to explain what dependences of the chosen observers have with the Arctic. In this part, I will discuss first the dependency relation of the Netherlands with the Arctic and the AC based on official documents and the interview conducted on 17th of July 2018 with the Representatives of the Dutch Foreign Affairs in the Arctic Council working in the department Inclusive Green Growth. Secondly, the dependency relation of WWF will be discussed based on official documents The Netherlands The Netherlands has been involved in the AC from 1998 as an observer. The Netherlands was thus one of the first observers in the AC and is still active. According to the Dutch Representatives (July 2018), the involvement in the AC is not a strange situation, mainly because the Arctic Circle is at almost the same distance as Lisbon is from Amsterdam. The Dutch representative argued: Lisbon is seen as a city relatively close to the Netherlands, so why not look at the same way to the Arctic Region (July, 2018). The closeness of the Arctic Region is one of the reasons the Netherlands has for 38

47 being active in the AC and Arctic. There are of course other reasons for the Netherlands to join the AC and be active in the Arctic. This part will discuss some of the reasons and dependency relations among which economic profit and environmental challenges. First of all, the Netherlands has a historical relationship with the Arctic. Already in 1594 the Dutch navigator Willem Barents tried to reach Asia via the Arctic sea route but ended at the North of what is now called Nova Zembla. Also, Henry Hudson and Jan Jacobs May have tried to take the same route, yet both did not succeed. After the expedition driven interest in the Arctic came the economic and commercial interest in the Arctic, namely whaling (Rijksoverheid, 2010). From the 20th century, the Netherlands focussed more on the political engagement in the Arctic, yet there are still some economic dependency relations with the Arctic. In the Arctic, there are still companies active, which have all value for the Dutch economy. It is not clear which companies are involved in the Arctic Region. Although, according to the Maritime Monitor around 10% of all the maritime activities of Dutch companies is related to the Arctic Region, creating a surplus of billions for the Dutch economy (Rijksoverheid, 2015). Economic sectors where the Dutch government expects major potential in the Arctic are the development and consultancy of local harbours, infrastructure and communication networks, but also tourism, fisheries, mining, shipbuilding and dredge work (Rijksoverheid, 2015). The Netherlands does not only invest and make an economic profit in the Arctic Region. There is one strong dependency that the Netherlands has with the Arctic Region. That is the import of energy products, mainly oil and gas products for energy supply. For example, Norway is the most important provider of oil and gas products for the Dutch energy supply (AIV, 2014). The Netherlands is not only dependent on the import of oil and gas products for its energy markets. The harbour of Rotterdam is the central hub for the storage of Russian oil transported to the Rotterdam, because of its strategic position geographically and in the market (AIV, 2014; Rijksoverheid, 2015). When a new oil field is discovered in the Arctic Ocean the harbour of Rotterdam will benefit regarding market position and finances. Figure 8 shows the Dutch import of crude oil per Arctic State. In this figure, based on numbers of the Statistics Netherlands, it becomes clear that Russia and Norway are the primary providers of crude oil to the Netherlands. This is not strange since both Russia and Norway have massive oil fields in their territories. Note that the numbers are based on the total amount of the countries and are thus not specified to only the amount of crude oil coming from the Arctic region. Still, it shows the dependency of the Netherlands on Russia and Norway in particular for energy supply. 39

48 Figure 8: Dutch Crude Oil import per Arctic State in Euro. Numbers collected from CBS (CBS, 2018) The Netherlands is also dependent on the Arctic s eco-system, not only for the biodiversity but also for the safety of the Dutch population. The biggest part of the Netherlands lies below sea level, although the Netherlands are experts in protecting itself from water, the rising level due to climate change and melting polar caps, are threatening. Therefore, the Netherlands are investing in scientific research in the Arctic to monitor themselves what is happening to the ecosystems and climate in the Arctic Region (NOW, 2014). The budget the Netherlands spends on polar scientific research is 10 million euro per year. The budget for scientific research has been split 50/50 for the Arctic and Antarctic scientific research projects. Thus, for the Arctic research projects, there is 5 million euro s per year available from (NWO, 2014). The financiers are both public and private contributors, in Table 9 is shown what the investment is of each contributor. Table 9: Overview of the contribution per financier for period (in Meuro) (Source: NWO, 2014) NWO 1,0 1,0 1,0 1,0 1,0 OCW 2,0 2,0 2,0 2,0 2,0 I&M 2,0* 2,0* 2,0* 2,0* 2,0* EZ 2,0* 2,0* 2,0* 2,0* 2,0* BZ 1,0 1,0 1,0 1,0 1,0 PPS 2,0 2,0 2,0 2,0 2,0 Total 10,0 10,0 10,0 10,0 10,0 *= 1,0 MEuro is available for matching of the PPS-cooperation s. This part has shown that the Netherlands has multiple dependency relations on the Arctic Region. First of all, there are companies involved in the economies of the Arctic region generating a considerable surplus of the Dutch economy and seeing potential in the development in the Arctic Region, expecting to benefit from the changes that will occur. Secondly, the Netherlands does not only gain directly from the Arctic, but the Netherlands also depends on mainly Norway and Russia for its energy supply, creating a dependency relation. Lastly, the environment plays also a role in the dependency 40

49 relation of the Netherlands with the Arctic. The fact that a 25% of the Netherland lies below sea level, this part generates 50% of the GDP (Rijksoverheid, 2017). This makes the Netherlands vulnerable for rising sea levels due to the melting of Arctic snow and ice (Rijksoverheid, 2017). Also, the Arctic is the cooling system of the earth changing weather patterns all over the world, also affecting the Netherlands. Thus, the Netherlands has not only dependency relations through economics, but the Netherlands is also environmentally depended on the changes happening in the Arctic WWF WWF is the only environmental NGO observer in the Arctic Council and is a knowledgeable and worthy negotiation partner by the other actors (Representative of Denmark, 2018; Representative of Greenland, 2018; Representative of the Netherlands, 2018; Representative of Sweden, 2018). Since WWF is an NGO, they have different dependency relations than States or Indigenous people since they do not live their daily or have economic activities in the region. Therefore, the dependency relations are shallow, and not as strong as with the other actors. This part is thus mainly based on the authors arguments from the analysis of WWF documents, and not on secondary sources that verify these arguments. Although not much is known about the dependence of the WFF with the Arctic, it is still useful to think about possible dependency relations that could influence the position of WFF. However, the position of WFF is more related to the principles, and identity WWF has. I argue that the only economic benefit WWF might have from the Arctic is the use of the iconic image of the polar bear and other Arctic species. First of all, the destiny of the polar bear gives WWF publicity and a source of income. WWF generates a source of income through a WWF species adoptions list, where individuals can adopt the polar bear, but also Arctic Fox, Caribou/Reindeer, Walrus, and so forth. (WWF, n.d.). These endangered Arctic species are thus used also to generate an income source for WFF. Another dependency relation the WWF might have is the stability of the cooperation in the Arctic, more specifically the Arctic Council. If a conflict emerged in the Arctic region, conservation would drift to the bottom, and even scientific research might become endangered. Thus a stable and cooperating Arctic is beneficial for the interests and actions of WWF in the Arctic. 6.4 Summary This chapter discussed the dependency relations of the actors with the Arctic Region. For most of the actors, except WWF, the dependency relation is twofold. First, the actors have economic ties with the Arctic region, these through businesses, industries or livelihood strategies that bound the actor to economic aspects. Secondly, is the environmental ties the actors have with the region, again the environment can be both threatening as well as being part of the livelihood strategy or economic opportunities. The dependency relations show once again that the economy and environment in the Arctic go hand in hand, yet simultaneously creating a trade-off. Climate change might shift this relationship. As mentioned before, climate change has an impact on the environment, the changes in the environment lead to two possibilities. Firstly, climate 41

50 change makes the environment more accessible for economic activities, which provides a positive stimulus for many actors. The second possibility is that the changes threaten habitats, biodiversity, and humans. A possibility is that the Arctic States gain from these changes and that the Indigenous Peoples are challenges and threatened by these changes. For the observers actors in the AC, it depends on the dependence relations and motives how the relation may shift due to climate change. The dependency relations show that the actors are bound to certain relations that might influence their position towards the economy and the environment in the Arctic region. Therefore, this chapter has created a good foundation for the upcoming parts in this thesis, to grasp the essence of the agenda and the interests of these actors, as well as, the norm-complexes and social structure. 42

51 7. The Social Structure and the Liberal Environmentalism Norm complex This chapter focuses on both sub-question 2) what are the main elements of the social structure of the Arctic Council regarding favouring the environment, economy, or both? And 3) to what extent do the main actors refer to the three elements of the Liberal Environmentalism norm-complex in their Arctic policy document? These two questions are addressed in one chapter because the questions are interrelated and therefore addressed together. Firstly, the chapter will focus on the social structure of the AC, to get an overview of the rules, procedures and norms in the AC that could influence the actors. Secondly, I discuss the liberal environmentalist normcomplex, and then the focus goes on the three elements of the liberal environmentalist norm-complex and to which extent the actors refer about these elements in their policy documents. 7.1 The Social Structure of the Arctic Council In order to understand the interest-based positions of the actors in the AC, it is necessary to know the social structure of the AC since the social structure may also modify interests. As explained in the theoretical framework, social structure is a collective set of rules and resources that structure the behaviour of actors involved (Giddens and Pierson, 1998; Finnemore, 1996; Porpora, 1989). The rules and procedures of the AC are part of the social structure of the AC, which influences the interest-based position of the actors. As discussed in the theoretical framework there can be more social structures at once that influence the behaviour and decisions of the actors. This is also the case in the AC, where for example the nation states both the Arctic and non-arctic States are attached to social structures of their societies, but also the European social structure and the UN social structure. This thesis solely focuses on the social structure of the AC, based on the assumption that the norms, rules, and procedures of the AC influence the interest-based positions of the actors involved. Also, Smieszek, an Arctic governance scholar and representative of the IASC, said: The actors exposed to Arctic Council will be influenced and will change their views and diffuse their norms (July 2018). This section analyses the declarations of the Arctic Council, and the interviews held with the actors involved in the Arctic Council. The mandate en constitutional rules of the AC are the significant drivers for forming the social structure of the AC. This section will only highlight the significant features of the social structure of the AC. In chapter 2 about the political arena in the Arctic, explained the structure of the AC briefly. The structure consists of eight member states, six permanent Participants, six working groups and 39 observers (see: figure 3 in chapter 2). This structure partly sustains the social structure of the AC. Through the structure of the AC, specific rules and formalities prevail, such as that only the eight member states have the right to make decisions and only if there is a full consensus between the eight member states. Also, there should be full consultation with the six permanent participants before the eight actors take a decision. This means that the PPs have no formal rights on decision-making 43

52 in the AC, but through consultations, they can express their concerns (Arctic Council, 2013a). The observers role is limited, they can observe the work of the AC and use their expertise within the working groups of the AC, and they should comply with the norms and values set in the declaration during the ministerial meeting every two years (Arctic Council, 2013a). If the observers do not comply with the rules, norms and values of the AC, creating non-consensus between the Member States. The Member States can withdraw the observers status. The division of roles influences the behaviour of the actors involved in the AC and is thus part of the social structure of the AC. Thus, full consensus, full consultation and observe and comply are the main rules steering the behaviour of actors in the AC. Especially the full consultation of the permanent participants is seen as an essential feature of the AC, that the actors should respect at all times. Throughout the interviews all of the actors mentioned in one way or another that the participation of Indigenous Peoples are critical in the AC, even some mentioned it as an important rule during the interviews (Representative of the ICC (October 2018); Representative of the Saami Council (October 2018); Representative of Denmark (September 2018); Representative of the Netherlands (July 2018)). Another element of the AC that contributes to the social structure is the unwritten rule for contribution to knowledge creation with the AC. The six working groups, experts groups and task forces provide information and data to the AC and is the engine for knowledge generation (Smieszek, July 2018). The WGs consist mostly of scientists, but also Indigenous people without scientific background participate in the WGs. The WGs especially encourage observers to have a say and influence the debate, by participating with a delegation in several working groups. The Representatives of the Netherlands stated in the interview that: As an observer in the AC you are mainly bound to listening. To become and stay visible in the AC we are actively participating in other international conferences like the Reykjavik Arctic Circle, but we also are active in three of the six working groups through the Arctic Centre of Groningen, in order to stay visible (July 2018). Also, there are two central priorities in the mandate of AC. The two priorities in the AC are environmental protection and sustainable development, which are the two pillars of the AC (Heininen, September 2018). The Ottawa Declaration (1996: 1) states: a) Affirming our commitment to sustainable development in the Arctic region, including economic and social development, improved health conditions and cultural well-being and b) Affirming concurrently our commitment to the protection of the Arctic environment, including the health of Arctic ecosystems, maintenance or biodiversity in the Arctic region and conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. In the following declaration, both environmental protection and sustainable development has to be named together in the beginning statement of each declaration. For example: Reaffirming the commitment of the Governments of the Arctic States and Indigenous Peoples to work together to promote sustainable development and environmental protections in the Arctic region with increased focus on climate change, sustainable use of resources and human development in the Arctic (Inari Declaration, 2002: 1) and Reaffirming our commitment to sustainable development in the Arctic region, including economic and social development, improved health conditions and cultural wellbeing, and our commitment to the protection of the Arctic environment, 44

53 including the health of Arctic ecosystems, conservation of biodiversity in the Arctic and sustainable use of natural resources, as stated in the Ottawa Declaration of 1996 (Iqaluit Declaration, 2015: 4). It could be argued that environmental protection is part of sustainable development, the AC argues in favour of the separation of sustainable development and environmental protection, to give them both full attention. Figure 9 shows the main four elements that the social structure of the AC consists of: a) environmental protection, b) sustainable development, c) the division of roles, and d) input from WGs, Expert Groups and Taskforces. These four elements of the social structure, together with the liberal environmentalism norm-complex can explain the interest-based positions of the actors. Pillar one Including economic and social development Improve health conditions and cultural well-being Pillar two Including the health of Arctic ecoystems, conservation of biodiversity Sustainable use of resources Sustainable Development Environmental Protrection Knowledge generating The devision of roles WGs, Expert Groups, Task forces Input used as agenda-setting mechanism Input used as enforcement medium Full consensus between MS Full consultation of PP Observe and comply for Observers Figure 9: Social Structure of the AC, consisting of four main elements (Source: Author s visualisation, 2018). 7.2 Liberal Environmentalism Norm-complex The theory of liberal environmentalism argues that the liberal environmentalism normcomplex consists of three elements. Firstly, State Sovereignty and Liability, which focus on the right of actors over resources, and with this, the responsibility to protect the environment, yet use the resources to develop. Secondly, Political Economy of Environment and Development is that there is a common but differentiated responsibility of creating sustainable development through the work of market mechanisms. This element usually refers to the allocation between rich and developing countries; in this thesis it refers to the allocation between rich and poor actors (Bernstein, 2002). Lastly, Environmental Management highly focuses on market mechanisms to manage and protect the environment. Codes support the analyses of if the three elements of the liberal environmentalism norm-complex play a role in the interest-based positions of the actors involved in the AC. Table 10 shows the elements, the three supporting codes and the explanation of the codes. 45