Canadian-Norwegian Symposium on Northern Cooperation

Opening speech by Jan Petersen, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Ottawa, 7 May 2002

Your Majesty,

Your Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

On behalf of the Norwegian Government, I have the honor to welcome you to this Canadian-Norwegian Symposium on Northern Cooperation.

The bilateral ties between Canada and Norway are both longstanding and strong. Viking settlements that confirm our common heritage have been excavated on the shores of Newfoundland by the Norwegian explorers Helge and Anne Stine Ingstad. Our countries have geographical similarities and have undergone parallel social and political development. Few nations share the same values and outlook on key international issues to a larger degree than Norway and Canada.

Our common heritage and broad, longstanding cooperation must not, however, be taken for granted. Our bonds need to be fostered and renewed. That is why we need occasions like this symposium. We need to rediscover how much we have in common and focus on the vast potential for even broader and closer cooperation.

We have here the opportunity to draw on the experience of ranking members of our academic and professional communities. Your insight is highly appreciated and needed.

Both Norway and Canada attach great importance to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and our cooperation on issues relating to the rights of indigenous peoples has been extremely rewarding.

Both our countries have several vital and resilient Arctic communities. Many of these are struggling to meet the demands of modern society.

New social and demographic patterns, changing ethical and environmental standards, large-scale exploitation of natural resources and new technology can all pose a threat to small and vulnerable communities and indigenous peoples.

Our common challenge is to protect traditional Arctic communities and lifestyles, while at the same time ensuring the existence of viable communities with a standard of living comparable to that in the rest of the country.

To this end, traditional industries and jobs based on the use of local natural resources such as fisheries, forestry and reindeer herding need to be combined with newer activities like tourism and research.

Special attention should be given to education and opportunities for children and youth.

If properly managed, petroleum activities in Arctic areas can provide jobs and income without unacceptable disturbance of the environment.

In mid March our Government presented a White Paper on the marine environment, drawing up a coherent policy for all Norwegian marine and coastal areas. A central goal is to establish a framework that makes it possible to strike a balance between commercial interests – the fisheries, aquaculture, shipping and petroleum industries, - while at the same time adhering to the principle of sustainable development.

An integrated management plan for the Barents Sea will be drawn up. In accordance with this approach, the Government proposes that offshore activities North of Norway should not be opened to further oil and gas activities until an environmental impact assessment of such activities year-round has been completed. We will also consider establishing fisheries zones where no petroleum activities are permitted.

The Arctic has the largest remaining wilderness areas in the northern hemisphere. Ecosystems, habitats and species can still be studied closer to their original state than anywhere else in the world. In a world where areas undisturbed by man are rapidly decreasing, the Arctic wilderness and its ecosystems will - if properly managed – be an increasingly valuable asset for us all.

The Arctic is one of the most sensitive and vulnerable regions of the world. Irresponsible activities have a far-reaching and destructive impact.

Unsustainable harvesting not only depletes marine resources, but also has serious effects on land-based ecosystems. Pollution in the Arctic has far greater negative effects than in lower latitudes, and the consequences of human activities take much longer to repair.

Today, both local and long-range pollution and nuclear waste are an increasing threat to many parts of the Arctic.

Only kilometers away from Norway’s border with Russia in the north, there is a nickel smelting plant with sulfur emissions five times larger than all the emissions from Norway put together. In an effort to drastically reduce these emissions - which seriously affect people on both sides of the border - Norway has pledged more than 40 million Canadian dollars for modernization of the plant.

Nuclear safety has always been at the center of Norwegian-Russian environmental cooperation. Over the last few years Norway has provided more than 100 million Canadian dollars for the promotion of nuclear safety in Russia. Among the measures that are being implemented are nuclear monitoring, emptying and decommissioning of nuclear vessels, special railway trucks for transporting radioactive waste and upgrading of storage tanks for liquid radioactive waste.

Clearly, one of the main challenges to Arctic environmental cooperation is to find viable solutions for the massive environmental problems facing Russia. Although the Russian economy is gradually getting stronger, many of these problems are of such a magnitude that extensive international assistance is required. I hope that Canada will join forces with the United States, the European Union and Norway in helping Russia overcome its immense environmental problems.

To be able to effectively meet the environmental challenges of the north, we need updated, comprehensive and reliable information.

In 1991 the eight countries bordering the Arctic committed themselves to establishing the "Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program", AMAP, to monitor the levels and assess the effects of man-made pollutants in the Arctic.

The first AMAP report has been widely referred to and is recognized as a major reference on Arctic pollution issues. We therefore have high hopes of the next report, which is due to be presented at the Arctic Council ministerial meeting in Finland in October.

Now we must follow up the knowledge we have gained with practical action.

Above all, we must reduce both the actual and the potential pollution in the Arctic. The "Arctic Council Action Plan to Eliminate Pollution of the Arctic" (ACAP) is a good approach to this challenge.

Knowledge of the Arctic region is important for both local and global decision making. The cold and unspoiled areas of the north may help us to better understand the past and to take precautions for the future. Signs of global warming and global pollution are visible at an early stage in the polar regions. Arctic research is therefore important to us all.

Global warming could lead to dramatic changes in the Arctic ecosystems and way of life. Norway will be ratifying the Kyoto Protocol on climate change within the next month. I urge Canada to join us and most of the other Arctic states in an early ratification of the Protocol.

The Arctic Council, which was established on Canada’s initiative, is today a key institution for dealing with Arctic issues.

The cooperation within the Arctic Council has put Arctic affairs higher on the agenda both within our own countries and internationally.

The system of "permanent participants" gives the indigenous peoples of the Arctic an opportunity to address the governments of the Arctic countries on an equal footing. This cooperation is of great benefit to the governments in the Council and, I believe, also to the indigenous peoples.

Norway is committed to strengthening the Arctic Council as the main body for circumpolar cooperation. We need a permanent secretariat and a more reliable system of financing. These should be among our priorities at the next ministerial meeting.

I would also like to briefly mention the Barents Euro Arctic Cooperation between Finland, Sweden, Russia and Norway, which covers our northern regions. The overall objective is to promote regional stability and sustainable development through projects and extensive networking on both national and regional levels. Canada is most welcome to participate in the Barents Euro Arctic cooperation.

Your Majesties,

Your Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

When the scientist and humanist Fridtjof Nansen started on his first polar expedition across Greenland in 1888, his plan was in direct opposition to the conventional wisdom of the time. He started from the unpopulated, hostile east coast of Greenland, where retreat was impossible, instead of from the milder, inhabited west coast as previous explorers had done.

Nansen purposely burned his bridges behind him and left no alternative for himself and his men but to go forward. No wonder the name of his specially constructed polar vessel – in which he tried to reach the North Pole – was FRAM, the Norwegian word for "forward". And he applied this very same philosophy to the humanitarian activities for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Nansen was inspired by the magnificence and the challenges of the Arctic. His response to the challenges was not to compromise in any way. His only course was forward.

Let us follow Nansen’s lead and move forward together to meet the challenges of the Arctic.

Thank you.