The debates on climate change put the stress on the dominant energy systems, as the production and consumption of fossil fuels induce significant greenhouse gas emissions. The Arctic territories are perceived as regions suffering from the global impacts of these energy systems, but also, for some of them, as centers of non-renewable energy production fully-involved in the global energy system.
As the paradigm of the energy transition to green energy has become more and more prevalent, what is its meaning for the Arctic territories and societies? To what extent is the energy transition based on the development of Arctic resources and the integration of Arctic regions into globalized flows, or conversely on new modes of energy production, involving local actors? This paper is based on analyses of official documents, press sources and initial exploratory fieldwork in Arctic Norway.
It analyses the different definitions of energy policies and deals with the different ways of conceiving territories and actors in the energy field. Obviously, the Arctic cannot be considered as a whole, an homogeneous region experiencing similar dynamics. Taking into account the great differences that distinguish the Arctic territories, the specificity of the discourses, measures and energy projects in the Arctic is to be questioned. What are the ways of thinking about the energy transition in the Arctic? At what scales is it taken into account? What are the definitions that the Arctic States give to the energy transition and what place do they give to the Arctic territories in their visions? To what extent is the energy transition a framework of thought that produces norms and is translated into policies? What competing visions exist? What other actors are producing definitions of this transition, or these transitions? The paper also questions the temporalities and spatialities of the processes and policies at work.
Keywords: Energy transition|Arctic territories|Political geography
A105059SH