Benefit-sharing arrangements in the Arctic : Promoting sustainability of indigenous communities in Areas of Resource Extraction

• Main Author: Tysyachnyouk, M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Life Science; Arctic; Barrow; nenets; Nenets Autonomous Okrug; north slope; Alaska
• Online Access: https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/benefit-sharing-arrangements-in-the-arctic-promoting-sustainabili

Can the interests of both the extractive industries and Indigenous communities in the Arctic be balanced through the implementation of benefit-sharing practices in the places of resource extraction? Most transnational corporationsin the Arctic oil and gas sector have declared their commitment to benefit-sharing arrangements that assist Indigenous communities and protect Indigenous rights to land and access to traditional resources, but the localimplementation of these commitments is highly variable. Benefit-sharing arrangements between oil companies and Indigenous communities were investigated in several regions of Russia (Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Komi Republic, Yamalo-Nentsk Autonomous okrug, Irkutskaya oblast) and on the North Slope of Alaska (Barrow, Nuiqsut, Kaktovik). Research demonstrates that Indigenous communities are not equally benefiting from oil and gas extraction, and moreover many of them are harmed as the industrial development threatens their traditional livelihoods of hunting, fishing, and reindeer herding. The following analysis explains how different types of benefit-sharing arrangementsimpact Indigenous communities.