Imagine the Arctic dotted not with oil rigs and seismic blasting vessels but with wind turbines and solar panels. Where energy comes not from climate change causing diesel, but from geothermal, wave, wind and solar, and where communities thrive on well-paying jobs that feed a healthy economy and a healthy environment.
This is the vision of a new report released today, commissioned by Greenpeace Canada and written by the Center for Sustainable Economy. Beyond Fossil Fuels: Sustainable Development Opportunities in Eastern Nunavut, argues that a sustainable future for Nunavut means diversifying the economy without fossil fuel development, whilst also responding to the many social and economic challenges faced by Nunavut’s Inuit culture — including climate change.
Pressures are mounting for the territory of Nunavut to continue down the road of fossil fuel extraction and leave traditional ways of living behind. A prime example of this growing pressure is the five-year seismic blasting project in Baffin Bay and the Davis Strait, which was approved by the National Energy Board in 2014, but is being challenged in the Supreme Court of Canada by residents of Clyde River, Nunavut.
The push to exploit oil and gas resources in the Canadian Arctic is partly driven by the need to provide jobs and much-needed investment for struggling northern communities. But this fossil fuel fixation threatens to worsen climate change impacts without providing the long-term sustainable jobs and investment that communities need.
Here are four ways the report argues that Nunavut can flourish without fossil fuels:
Education and resources
Knowledge and acquiring skills are key to Nunavut’s future. Promising solutions include protecting and restoring traditional ecological knowledge, improving formal educational attainment, protecting public health, building food security, and providing high-speed Internet connectivity for all. Research shows that the vast majority of people in Nunavut prefer a mix of formal sector employment and subsistence activities, so diversified training and education to achieve this balance is essential.
Investing in renewable energy
Nunavut lags significantly behind both the Yukon and Northwest Territories in renewable energy production and investment. Recent research cites financial, capacity, and bureaucratic challenges as the main barriers to renewable energy development in Nunavut. But renewable energy has great potential, and successful case studies abound. Strategies for scaling up renewable energy solutions include renewable energy projects in the schools, wind, solar, energy efficiency, and more widespread dissemination of renewable energy industry training and skills.
Promoting Indigenous tourism
Indigenous tourism is responsible tourism activity in which Indigenous Peoples are directly involved through control, ownership and guidance. Indigenous-led tourism is part of a larger strategy of reinforcing or revitalizing political and cultural autonomy through intercultural encounters. It offers a stark contrast to cruise ships and other forms of invasive tourist activities that pollute and disempower Indigenous Peoples. The demand for Indigenous tourism is skyrocketing across North America and Europe, and strategies for scaling this industry up in Nunavut could include investment in quality tourism products and services, education and training to build a skilled Indigenous workforce, strategic public investments in attractions (like protected areas), other infrastructure (like cultural centers), and financial assistance for community and cultural tourism projects.
Developing sustainable Arctic fisheries
Fishing has always been a part of a traditional Inuit lifestyle, but local consumption of seafood is more important than ever in a time when food prices are high, and nutritious food options are limited. To increase the benefits of sustainable fisheries in Nunavut, several policy options are proving effective, including scientific research, support for Indigenous-owned and operated companies and cooperatives, and changes in fishery management such as “fish locally” initiatives to maximize the benefits of fishing for local economies, the environment, and marginalized racial and ethnic populations.
The options listed here represent just a handful of solutions that can help
Nunavut maximize the benefits of both the formal market economy and the traditional Inuit economy whilst freeing itself from the plight of fossil fuel dependency.
To find out more, read the full report here.