Pioneering the Study of the Economy of the Arctic

The Arctic is on the leading edge of climate change, sea-level rise, and social equity issues. Similar issues being faced around the world, and economic studies could be used to generate ideas and solutions that can apply globally. The problem is there is very little information on the connection between the economy and the environment of this bellwether ecosystem. This summer, the National Ocean Economics Program published a huge dataset on the economics of the Arctic, including Arctic Transit, Ports and Cargo, Oil and Gas, Minerals, Tourism, Subsistence Economies, Non-Market Values Database, an Ecological Database (what creatures are found where), Off-Shore Renewable Energy, and Wages and Employment. This is pioneering work, but we did not stop there. In November, the Center for the Blue Economy convened an Arctic Economics Workshop with 16 leading economists, scholars, and scientists from around the world to encourage more scholarship and research on the topic. One outcome is the formation of a new scholarly society—SEAS: Society for the Study of the Economies of the Arctic and Subarctic. Another is becoming a partner of the Norwegian Ministry to produce “AlaskaNor: Opportunities for Blue Growth in Alaska and North Norway.”